The Hidden Spirit Pack:Journey of the Soul
by Wolf General
Summary: With their goal clear, the pack proceeds to the town of Juniper to procure a new mode of transportation. Unfortunately, they came at one of the worst possible times...
1. An unlikely hero indeed

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Yugioh.

A single form sat in front of a campfire, watching the flames as if it was trying to get some kind of message out of it. "The spirits speak…but what do they say?" An old hand gathered up a small handful of dirt and threw it onto the fire. For a few seconds the flame twisted and died down…and then the flames exploded in size. "They see something coming…but what is that thing?"

Someone stepped near the fire and sighed. "Are you done staring at the fire yet? We need to get going."

"It is a force of dark energy….but what does that mean? Darkness can mean many different things…"

The standing person threw up its hands and stomped off. "Fine! Just sit there and rot for all I care!"

The old man kicked a hunk of dirt over the fire and extinguished it. "It is evil. But beyond that…I am unsure of what it means. Perhaps I shall see more as we travel to our destination."

* * *

_06/27/2025_

_I've never really fit in anywhere._

_Yeah, I suppose I'm your cliché loner. Ever since I was born I've never really felt right living the life I've had. My mother left the day after I was born, and my father would beat me for it. Yeah, like it was my fault._

_Anyway though, there's always been loneliness in my heart that never seems capable of being filled. I ran away from home two years ago…and ever since then I've felt a little less lonely. Yeah, I might be a bit of a drifter but it's better than being the target for beatings from a drunken asshole of a father._

_There is one thing that has kept me sane and fed well enough though. And that is Duel Monsters. It's pretty funny how much the world loves this game. And the more I think about it, the more reasons I see why. Still though, it's funny how some people treat this game like a matter of life and death._

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost as always

* * *

_

A convention center.

It had been rented out by the Shadow Corporation for their annual tournament. Ever since the problems that had come from Giovan Garlin's Shadow Tournament they had decided to move the tournament to a more civil location. Also, duelists wouldn't need to run around an island dueling for points. They'd just collect them from people in the convention hall.

And inside the building wild cheering echoed out across the huge center.

"Ladies and gentleman, the moment you have all been waiting for! The final duel of the Shadow Tournament!" The announcer ran a hand through his beard. "So let's get this show started!"

Everyone started cheering again.

"As you all most likely know, there is not one…not two…but three whole packs of Supreme Duelist Series packs of cards available to the winner of this tournament!" He waved his hand out across the thousands of people gathered around the arena. "So now let's introduce our duelists!"

The first duelist walked up the steps of his side of the arena. He wore nearly all black clothing, with a pair of black sunglasses over his eyes. Waving back his slicked-back blond hair, the boy (who couldn't have been older than 15) smirked enough to reveal a pair of elongated canines.

The announcer pointed at him. "He's made it this far with his combination of horrific monsters and powerful magic cards! Nosferatu!" A mix of cries rose up. Some were good, some were bad.

At the other end of the arena was a red-skinned Native American boy of similar age. He wore a denim jacket and a pair of faded denim pants. His long black hair was tied into a ponytail that hung down to the small of his back. And around his neck was a piece of strangely shaped silver.

The announcer pointed at the other boy. "And I'm sure some of the duelists in the crowd remember some of the moves made by this young man! Cheveyo Qua!" People were strangely silent in their responses to that. It was almost as if they were afraid of the boy.

Nosferatu smiled slightly. "So tell me, do you fear the dark?" He lifted his arm to reveal one of the latest Duel Disks that were created by Kaiba Corp. "Because by the time I am done you will understand what it means to fight a demon!"

Cheveyo smirked slightly. "A true demon huh? Maybe you should grow up before taking me on. Demons don't exist." He lifted his arm to reveal a first edition Duel Disk.

The announcer chopped his hand down. "Duel!" Spinning around, he nearly threw himself out of the arena area.

Nosferatu- 4000

Cheveyo- 4000

Cheveyo drew. "I'll go first, if that's alright with you." His disk clicked into playing position.

"That's fine." Nosferatu glanced over each of his cards and sneered. ("Good…I'll be able to apply the pressure after the first turn.")

Cheveyo looked at his hand and grimaced. "I set a monster face-down on the field and end my turn." A horizontal brown-backed card appeared on the field in front of him. ("For now that's all I can do.")

Nosferatu drew. "I summon Archfiend Soldier!" (1900/1500) A horned purple monster appeared on the field and rumbled menacingly. "Attack the set monster now!" It launched forwards and drove its claw through the set monster, blowing it apart.

Cheveyo pointed at his opponent. "You attacked my Des Koala!" (1100/1800) "It's special flip effect deals you 400 life points of damage per card in your hand."

Nosferatu- 2000

Cheveyo- 4000

Nosferatu growled as chuckles emerged from the crowd. "You think you're such a hot player, hmm? Just you wait. I set one card face-down and end my turn." A face-down card shimmered into existence behind the Archfiend Soldier.

Cheveyo drew. "All I can do is set one monster face-down. End turn."

Nosferatu drew. "How did you make it this far?" He placed a card down onto his disk. "I summon Theban Nightmare (1500/500) in attack mode." A blue demon made up of souls appeared on the field and started to float across the field towards the set monster. It swallowed up the set monster easily.

Cheveyo caught a card that was spat out of his deck. "Giant Rat's (1400/1450) special ability activates when it is destroyed as a result of battle I can special summon one earth monster from my deck to the field in attack mode!" He slapped a card down. "I special summon Dark Gray!" (800/900) A little grey goat appeared on the field.

"Attack now Archfiend Soldier! Annihilate that little thing!" The monster launched forwards and slashed its claw across the body of the little goat and blew it apart. "Other than that, I end my turn."

Nosferatu- 2000

Cheveyo- 2900

Cheveyo drew calmly. ("He is powerful…but not invincible.") "I set one monster face-down and end my turn."

Nosferatu rolled his eyes and drew. "That's it…I'm done playing with you. Go Giant Orc!" (2200/0) A huge grey-skinned monster holding a bone club appeared on the field. "Now I attack with Archfiend Soldier!" The purple demon leapt across the field and snapped its claw down, only to be deflected.

A blue-armored green-skinned monster appeared on the field where the set card had been. "Igzarion Universe (1800/1900) has enough defense power to withstand the attack."

Nosferatu clenched his fist and pointed at the monster. "Giant Orc attack!" The monster leapt forwards and slammed its club into the beast, blowing it apart. "Theban Nightmare, attack him directly!" The mist-like demon floated across the field and through the red-skinned boy slowly.

Nosferatu- 2000

Cheveyo- 1400

Nosferatu snickered as Giant Orc fell to one knee. "During the end of my battle phase Giant Orc switches into defense mode." He held up a card from his hand and slid it into his disk. "And now the final blow starts to come! Go Ectoplasmer! This continuous magic card's special ability forces us to sacrifice a monster during our end phase. Our opponent takes half of the sacrificed monster's attack points in damage!" He slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn!" Giant Orc turned ghostly and flew across the field to pass through Cheveyo.

Nosferatu- 2000

Cheveyo- 300

Cheveyo seemed unaffected by the attacks against him. Brushing off his shoulder he smiled slightly. "You're good. But I'm not out of tricks yet." He drew, inserted the card into his hand, and then took a different card and slid it into his disk. "I activate Heavy Storm. This magic card destroys all magic and trap cards in play!" A storm of wind swept across the field and shattered Nosferatu's three cards.

The blond-haired boy held up one of the cards. "In response I activate Remains of Yata-Garasu! This trap card lets me draw one card." He slid his three cards into his graveyard and drew once.

Cheveyo took a different card from his hand and slid it into his disk. "Next I'll activate Monster Reincarnation. This magic card requires I discard a card from my hand into my graveyard and pick up a monster card." He held up his Giant Rat card from before. "Now I summon Giant Rat in defense mode." A grey-furred rat appeared on the field in a crouching position. "Also, I set two cards face-down and play Mirage of Nightmare. End turn."

Nosferatu drew. "It's…"

"Mirage of Nightmare lets me draw until I have four cards in my hand." Cheveyo drew four cards and then pointed at one of his set cards. "I activate Emergency Provisions. This quickplay magic card lets me sacrifice magic and trap cards in play to gain 1000 life points per card." Mirage of Nightmare and his other set card disappeared.

Nosferatu- 2000

Cheveyo- 2300

Nosferatu pointed at the Giant Rat. "Attack now Theban Nightmare!" The mist monster flowed over the set monster and blew it apart.

Cheveyo took a card out of deck and slapped it down. "I special summon Giant Rat!" Another grey-furred rat appeared on the field.

Nosferatu pointed at the monster. "Attack now Archfiend Soldier!" The purple demon slashed its claws through the beast and blew it apart.

Nosferatu- 2000

Cheveyo- 1800

Cheveyo grabbed a card from his deck and slapped it down. "I special summon Silver Fang!" (1200/800) A silver-furred wolf appeared on the field and howled.

Nosferatu looked at his hand. "I end my turn for now."

Cheveyo drew and glanced out at the audience. ("What was that?") He started to turn, but then brought his attention back to the duel. ("I don't know what that was…but I thought I felt something.") He shook his head out and pointed at Silver Fang. "I sacrifice Silver Fang to summon Berfomet (1400/1800) in attack mode!" The wolf disappeared within a tornado of wind and was replaced by a four-armed demon that snarled at the other demons that were in play. "Berfomet's special ability is that when it is normal summoned I can add one Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200) from my deck into my hand." He removed a card from his deck and then another from his hand. "And now I use the power of Polymerization to fuse these two monsters together."

Berfomet disappeared in a flash of light and was replaced by a two-headed lion-like beast with wings and a tail that was a snake. "Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast in attack mode!" (2100/1800) It roared and lowered its horned heads down to aim at the Archfiend Soldier. "Impact Dash!" It charged across the field and tackled the purple demon, blowing it apart.

Nosferatu- 1800

Cheveyo- 1800

Cheveyo smirked and slid two cards into his disk. "I set two cards face-down on the field. End turn." He knew that all of his patience was paying off now. With Chimera in play he could now overpower Nosferatu.

The blond-haired boy drew. "All I'll do is set one monster face-down on the field and switch Theban Nightmare into defense mode." The misty creature folded its ethereal arms in front of itself and was now standing on a horizontal copy of its card. "End turn."

Cheveyo drew. "I summon Gyaku-Gire Panda!" (800/1600) A red-eyed panda holding a piece of bamboo appeared on the field. It growled and started hopping around angrily. "Gyaku-Gire Panda's special ability increases its attack points by 500 for every monster you have in play." (1800/1600) "Gyaku-Gire Panda, attack Theban Nightmare now!" The panda tackled through the misty monster and it disappeared.

Nosferatu- 500

Cheveyo- 1800

"Chimera, attack the set monster now!" The two-headed beast slammed its horns through the set monster and blew it apart. "I set a card face-down and end my turn."

Nosferatu drew. ("I have five cards in my hand now…but with that Panda in play I can't keep my life points safe yet.") He looked at his hand and smirked coldly. "I have just the right play to deal with you now. From my hand…I play the magic card Sight Scrying! This card's special ability lets me name one kind of effect. All cards in play with that effect are destroyed. I call any and all cards that can destroy magic or trap cards."

Cheveyo gasped as his Dust Tornado trap card flipped up and shattered.

"Now the stage is set!" Nosferatu slapped a card onto his disk. "I summon Goblin King (0/0) in defense mode!" A little green-skinned demon appeared on the field, its regal robes hanging off of its childish figure. "Also, I set two cards face-down. End turn."

Cheveyo drew. "Gyaku-Gire Panda, attack Goblin King now!" (1300/1600) The panda roared and charged.

"Reverse cards open!" Nosferatu sneered coldly. "Spirit Barrier's special ability is that as long as it is in play all battle damage to me is zero if I control a monster. In combination, I play Astral Barrier. With its effect I can make any attack by my opponent into a direct attack against my life points!" A spectral version of himself appeared and blocked the Panda's attack. "That means that your attacks are now useless."

Cheveyo slid his hand card into his disk. "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Nosferatu drew. "Since my Barrier combo is in play, I'll set this monster face-down knowing that you can't touch me. End turn." A new face-down monster appeared on the field and Gyaku-Gire Panda's attack strength went up. (1800/1600)

Cheveyo drew. ("He's got me locked out…but that doesn't mean I'm totally out of options.") "For now though, I end my turn."

Nosferatu drew. "It's time to shine! Flip up now, Night Assailant!" His face-down monster revealed itself to be a black-clothed assassin-like monster. "When flipped up one monster in play is destroyed!" Chimera exploded into dust.

Cheveyo caught a card that was spat out of his graveyard. "The effect of Chimera allows me to special summon either Gazelle or Berfomet from my graveyard when it is destroyed! Return to me now Berfomet in defense mode!" The demon reappeared on the field in a crouching position.

Nosferatu pointed at his two monsters. "I sacrifice these monsters to summon the mighty and unstoppable Invader of Darkness!" (2900/2500) A black and brown-cloaked monster appeared on the field and flexed its claws. "Annihilate that annoying panda!" It started to charge….

Cheveyo pointed at one of his set cards. "Go Shrink!" The card flipped up…but then exploded. "What?"

"Invader of Darkness has a special ability. As long as it is in play all quickplay magic cards you play will be destroyed." Nosferatu pointed at the red-skinned boy. "So prepare for the end! Attack now and finish him off!" It launched across the field towards the panda. "And before you think that you are safe, take a look at this equipment magic card in my hand. It's called Nitro Unit. When equipped to a monster in play and that monster are destroyed as a result of battle then you'll take the destroyed monster's attack in damage." A ring of plastic explosives appeared around the neck of the panda. "So it truly is over!" The Invader of Darkness cleaved the monster in half with its claws.

Nosferatu- 500

Cheveyo- 200

"Reveal Trap of Board Eraser!" One of Cheveyo's remaining cards flipped up. "This counter trap negates effect damage to me and forces you to discard a card from your hand."

Nosferatu held up his two empty hands. "I have no cards, so that's pointless. End turn."

Cheveyo drew. ("There's only one option left.") He looked at the drawn card. "End turn."

Nosferatu drew. "Invader of Darkness, run over his remaining monster!" The demon slashed through Berfomet with no problem. "End turn!"

Cheveyo glanced down at his deck and then at the Invader of Darkness. "I hope this works." He drew. One look at the card told him everything he needed to know. "This is the end for you."

"What?" The blond-haired boy pointed at him. "Take a look at the field!"

"I have. And I see the one flaw in your so-called invincible shield strategy." He threw a monster onto his disk. "Come out now, Chiron the Mage!" (1800/1000) A centaur holding a red staff appeared on the field. "I activate the effect of Chiron! By discarding one magic card from my hand I can destroy one magic or trap card in play!" He slid a card from his hand into his graveyard slot. "I sacrifice Nobleman of Crossout to destroy Spirit Barrier!" The spellcaster lifted its staff and released a blast of red energy that hit the trap. It shuddered and exploded into dust.

Nosferatu paled. "I still have…"

"My final card from my hand is called Lightning Return. This card lets me activate one quickplay magic card from my graveyard!" The Invader of Darkness shrank down to the size of a child. (1450/2500) "I use Shrink from my graveyard, so its effect cannot be negated by your monster's effect." He pointed at it. "Go Chiron! Magic Strike!" The mage leapt forward and slammed its staff onto the demon's head, blowing it apart.

Nosferatu- 150

Cheveyo- 200

Nosferatu snarled. "I'll make you pay for that in the next turn."

"What next turn? Reverse card open." Cheveyo pointed at his set card and it flipped up. "By activating the power of Soul Circle, I can return one monster on my field back to my deck and special summon a monster of the same level from my deck to the field." A huge red-furred gorilla appeared on the field. "Berserk Gorilla, direct attack!" (2000/1000) The ape charged and punched Nosferatu right in the chest.

Nosferatu- 0

Cheveyo- 200

The entire audience started to cheer wildly.

"And we have a winner!" The announcer leapt up onto the arena floor and grabbed Cheveyo's arm, pulling it up into the air. "Cheveyo Qua has won the Shadow Tournament!"

Cheveyo pulled his arm away and shuffled his deck. "So, how much prize money is there?"

"Prize money?" The announcer looked at him. "What prize money?"

"You mean there's no prize money for this tournament?" Cheveyo leaned in close to glare at the man. "Then what's the prize?"

The man held up three gold-foiled packs. "The Supreme Duelist Series packs are all yours."

Cheveyo frowned…and then he heard it again. It was speaking to him like a voice on the winds. "Don't you have another prize available besides the packs?"

The announcer paled. ("Oh no…but I was told to try and keep those cards.") "Well err…yes….but they're not any good! You wouldn't want them anyway! Trust me, the cards in these packs are much more useful."

"No, I want the other cards." Cheveyo spoke almost as if he was in a trance.

Sighing, the man reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a deck box. "Here then…"

Cheveyo took the deck box and held it in front of him. ("Not a single cent…just these cards…") He sighed and walked off with the cheers of the crowd following him.

In the audience a black trench-coated man watched Cheveyo leave. Silently, he turned and disappeared into the shadows.

_To be continued…_


	2. First Encounter with the Wyrm

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Other than the occasional bumps caused by potholes, the drive went silently. None of the five passengers in the jeep spoke at all.

"The darkness I sensed before…it is moving…"

"For the love of Gaia…" The driver of the vehicle glanced in the rear-view mirror. "Fong, stop babbling on about that stupid darkness you detected. All you're doing is stating the obvious."

"I personally think you should shut up and let the man talk. He's with us because with his help we can actually deal with any evil spirits we run into." Another passenger in the vehicle, its voice masculine and highly cultured, spoke.

"Shut up pretty boy!" The driver snarled back behind him and then kept driving.

The old man looked down at his lap and closed his eyes. ("The evil spirits have found what we seek. We must hurry before it is too late.")

* * *

_06/27/2025_

_It's a load of crap. To think I actually worked hard to get into that tournament, only to find out that my prize is a stupid bunch of cards. I haven't even looked at them yet either. Honestly, I think if I did I'd throw up on myself at the realization that I was cheated. I have some money left, but honestly it won't last long. So tommorow morning I'd better find a tournament with a money prize._

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost as always

* * *

_

"Hey there kid, whatcha got there?"

Cheveyo closed his journal and dropped it into his backpack. "Nothing at all. Just a little notebook I carry with me at times."

The old codger chuckled and sat down in front of the bonfire. "Heck, it's a like a diary ain't it?"

"It might be. What do you care?" Cheveyo's blue eyes glanced over at the man, and then he looked away.

"Nothin at all. I was just wonderin is all." The old man hopped up and wandered away towards the other gathered vagrants who had lit campfires.

Cheveyo sighed and shook his head. "Crazy old coot." He reached over to take something out of his back and froze when he felt his arm brush against something in his jacket pocket. "Oh yeah…" He took the deck box he had won out of it and frowned. "Maybe I should just throw you into a river. It's because of you that I wound up with no money in that tournament." He sighed and glanced around to see if anyone was watching him. ("Look at me; I'm talking to a box of cards. How desperate am I for attention anyway?")

* * *

A single dark form calmly walked down an alley toward the dim light of bonfires. It stepped past a couple of sleeping men who had decided that a cold alley was as good of a place as any to pass out.

* * *

Cheveyo popped open the deck box's cover and ran his fingers across the stack of cards that was inside. ("This isn't a smart place to just check every card. I'll wind up losing something. For now let's just take a peek at what these cards are.") He removed three cards from the middle of the stack and started to lift them up to his eyes… 

"Hey ya crazy nut! What'd ya shove me fer?"

Placing the cards right underneath his blanket, Cheveyo closed the deck box and placed it back into his backpack. ("I'll be with you in a second.")

"Get out of my way." The man's boots crunched into the leaves of the small park, and his face, which was shadowed by the collar of his trench-coat, watched the man coldly.

"You get out of my way!" The old man tried to push the tall man aside.

Without another word the huge man placed a hand on the old man's arm and casually hurled him ten feet backwards right onto a bonfire.

Cheveyo stood up just in time to see this. His eyes widened in fear as he watched the old man he had spoken to just a moment ago leap up and run around the camp screaming, his hair and clothing ablaze.

Cries of 'somebody put him out' and 'what happened' sprang up from the numerous other gathered vagrants.

And the man continued to approach his target.

Cheveyo was watching the old man for another moment or so…until he felt it. It was like a blotch of ink in water to his senses. He slowly turned his head…and saw the man….

Wordlessly the shadowed giant continued to approach.

Something triggered in Cheveyo's mind. It was the instinct in all living creatures. Fight or flight began to take over. Fear gripped his heart, as if he was looking upon a perversion of some kind. He spun on one heel and quickly gathered up his belongings, shoving everything into anything. ("RUN!") Throwing his backpack over one shoulder he charged away from the park at full speed.

The man hadn't broken his slow pace. He just continued to slowly follow with his eyes and feet.

* * *

Cheveyo squeezed his eyes shut and ran for all he was worth. ("Please don't catch me….please!") He opened his eyes long enough to noticed an alley. Without losing speed he turned into it and nearly yelped in surprise as he ran face-first into a wall. ("SHIT!") 

After a few moments of disorientation he turned and was about to charge out of the alley….but he froze in fear. ("What's….it's that voice again…") He snapped his head around fearfully. "Who's there?"

_("It's okay little girl…I won't hurt you…just come and take a ride with me…")_

_("That lying bastard…I'll make sure he never cheats on me again…")_

_("There's nothing left to live for…why should I even bother…")_

_("One, two, three…one, two, three...steady nerves…can't ruin the skin…")_

Cheveyo slid to his knees and clutched at his skull. ("Get out of my head!")

"Cheveyo Qua." A cold, nearly emotionless voice reached his ears. Its sound reminded him of slime. "I am here to challenge you to a duel."

Cheveyo slowly lifted his head, the voices now fading. Standing at the entrance of the alleyway was the man. "How do you know who I am?"

The man lifted his arm. For a few moments it seemed as if the darkness actually wrapped around it. When the blackness cleared there was a duel disk on his arm.

"You want to duel?" Cheveyo felt his heart about to burst out of his chest. ("Run…") "Screw you. Leave me alone."

"You will accept this challenge." The man opened his mouth and a black smoke rolled out. It flowed around their feet.

Cheveyo tried to run, but his feet were stuck. "What in the hell is this stuff?"

"Duel." The man's duel disk slid into place.

("Can't run…gotta fight…") The Indian boy unzipped his backpack and took out his duel disk and deck. Sliding the device onto his arm, he threw the backpack aside. "You want to duel? Fine, but if I beat you then you go away."

The man said nothing.

("Damn it…I've still got no choice. If anything it'll buy me time.") Cheveyo pressed a button on the disk and it snapped into place. Then he slammed his deck into its slot. "Duel!"

Cheveyo- 4000

Man- 4000

"I'm first…" The man drew the top card off of his deck. "I summon Masked Dragon (1400/1100) in defense mode." A red and white dragon appeared on his field and roared right before it spread its wings in front of it defensively. "Also, I play the magic card Dragon's Gunfire. This magic card allows me to deal you 800 life points of damage when there is a dragon in play." His dragon opened its jaws and shot out a medium-sized fireball that flew across the field and enveloped Cheveyo.

The red-skinned boy screamed in pain as the fire pushed and tore at his body. ("This can't be real…it's gotta be a trick…") As the fire subsided he tried to fall to his knees but the mist that was holding him in place prevented him from doing so.

Cheveyo- 3200

Man- 4000

"Also, I set one card face-down on the field. End turn." The man calmly slid a card into his disk and it appeared on the field right behind the Masked Dragon.

Cheveyo growled, anger burning in his heart. This was impossible. He shouldn't have felt that much pain from the duel simulators. "Draw!" He glanced at the drawn card. "I summon Gyaku-Gire Panda (800/1600) in attack mode!" A huge red-eyed panda appeared on the field. "Gyaku-Gire Panda's ability increases its attack points by 500 for every monster you have in play!" (1300/1600) "Attack Masked Dragon now!" Roaring, the animal slashed its claws through the other monster and blew it apart. (800/1600)

The man removed his deck from its slot. "When Masked Dragon is destroyed as a result of battle I may special summon one dragon monster from my deck to the field if it has 1500 or less attack points." He slapped a card down onto his disk and then replaced his deck. "I special summon Armed Dragon Level 3 (1200/900) in attack mode." An orange and brown dragon appeared on the field.

Cheveyo pointed at the man. "Gyaku-Gire's special ability deals you damage through defense!" He grasped a card from his hand and slid it into his disk. "I also set one card face-down and end my turn."

Cheveyo- 3200

Man- 3800

The man drew. "During my standby phase the special ability of Armed Dragon Level 3 activates. By sending it to the graveyard I may special summon one Armed Dragon Level 5 from my deck or hand to the field." The little dragon disappeared and was replaced by a much bigger version of itself, except that it was now colored red and black. (2400/1700)

Cheveyo gritted his teeth and pointed at his set card. "Reveal Threatening Roar!" Gyaku-Gire Panda opened its jaws and roared loudly. "This trap card prevents you from attacking during this turn! Therefore you can't damage my life points!"

The man slid a card from his hand into his graveyard slot. "I activate the effect of Armed Dragon Level 5. By discarding one monster card from my hand I can destroy one monster in play that has attack equal to or less than the attack of the discarded monster. I discard Mirage Dragon (1600/600) to destroy Gyaku-Gire Panda. Armed Dragon Level 5, Destroy Spikes!" The dragon roared and sprayed a wave of spikes from its body that slammed into the panda and blew it apart.

Cheveyo felt no pain from his monster's death, but the sheer fact that his opponent could destroy his monsters was no good to his confidence. "At least you haven't damaged me during this turn."

"Reveal Coffin Seller." The man pointed at his set card. "This continuous trap's ability will deal you 300 life points of damage every time a monster is sent to your graveyard." A dark purple mist flowed out of the card and forced itself down Cheveyo's throat. Seconds later it disappeared and he broke out into a fit of hysteric coughing. "End turn."

Cheveyo- 2900

Man- 3800

Cheveyo hacked out a bit of blood and if not for the smoke at his feet holding him in place would have fallen. ("I have to…keep it together…") He drew. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Though he wished he could do more, the cards in his hand didn't give him too many options.

The man drew. "Armed Dragon Level 5, attack the set monster now! Armed Banisher!" The dragon slammed both of its claws down onto the set monster and shattered it. "Because of the effect of Coffin Seller, you lose another 300 life points!" His trap released another spray of purple smoke that forced itself down Cheveyo's lungs.

Cheveyo- 2600

Man- 3800

Cheveyo hacked up a little more blood. "I'm…not done yet…" His graveyard slot began to glow. "Nimble Momonga's (1000/100) special ability is that when it is sent from my field to the graveyard because of battle I gain 1000 life points and may special summon the other two from my deck to the field." He pulled his deck out and removed two cards. After replacing it he threw both cards down onto the field face-down.

Cheveyo- 3600

Man- 3800

"I set one card face-down on the field." The man slid a card into his disk in the slot next to Coffin Seller. "Also, I activate the effect of Armed Dragon Level 5 during my end phase. During the turn it has destroyed a monster as a result of battle I may send it to the graveyard to special summon Armed Dragon Level 7 (2800/1000) from my deck to the field." The dragon increased in size, its body covered by heavy steel armor now. "End turn."

Cheveyo drew, trying to ignore the still smoldering parts of his clothing from the effect of Dragon's Gunfire. ("This is a trick…it has to be!") "I set one monster card face-down, and three cards face-down. End turn." Now he had a suitable defense. ("I just need time to draw something usable.")

The man drew. "I activate Dark Piercing Light!" A bright flash of light engulfed the field and when it cleared a pair of sugar gliders and a brown-furred beast appeared on the field in place of the three set monster cards. (1000/100X2) (1500/1200) "This magic card flips up all set monsters." He slapped a card down. "Now I summon Mirage Dragon in attack mode." A gold dragon appeared on the field and roared. "This monster prevents you from activating trap cards during the battle phase."

Cheveyo grimaced. "It doesn't matter….Armed Dragon's effect will only destroy one monster in play. So unless you want to toss your whole hand…"

"Armed Dragon Level 7 activates its special ability now." The man discarded a card from his hand. "By discarding Cave Dragon (2000/100) from my hand into the graveyard I will destroy all monsters on your field with 2000 or less attack points. Genocide Cutter!" The dragon tilted its head back and from its stomach a trio of spinning blades of energy erupted to slash the three monsters apart. "Also, the effect of Coffin Seller deals you 900 life points of damage." His trap released a huge blast of smoke that hurtled across the field and forced itself down Cheveyo's throat.

Cheveyo- 2700

Man- 3800

The Indian boy lurched forwards and vomited onto the cement.

"Armed Dragon Level 7 attacks your life points directly. Armed Banisher!" The dragon raised its arm up and prepared to bring it crashing down onto the boy.

"Reveal….face-down…card…." Cheveyo pointed his hand at one of his face-down cards, trying to fight through the nausea and pain in his gut. "Emergency Provisions lets me sacrifice magic and trap cards that I have in play to gain 1000 life points per discard." His other two set cards disappeared.

Cheveyo- 4700

Man- 3800

The Armed Dragon's claw slammed down onto Cheveyo's body, him disappearing under it.

Cheveyo screamed in pain as he felt nearly every bone in his body experiencing a pain like it was suddenly trapped in a trash compactor. For a few moments he felt and heard his bones beginning to crack…and then the pressure went away as the Dragon withdrew its arm.

Cheveyo- 1900

Man- 3800

The man pointed at the now nearly dead-looking boy. "Mirage Dragon, attack with Mirage Crush!" The dragon opened its jaws and a spray of rainbow energy washed over him. His body felt another pressure as the energy began to tear at his flesh. Finally it faded away, leaving his clothing torn and burned. Every bone in his body hurt and all he could feel was pain and nausea from the assorted assaults of Coffin Seller and Armed Dragon.

Cheveyo- 300

Man- 3800

The man coldly spoke. "End turn."

Cheveyo's rapidly fading vision looked upon the man…and he saw something coming from the man. It was an aura of black…not darkness….black. Little shadows hung on the man's shoulders, and were whispering things into his ears. ("What…is this crazy…stuff? I have to be hallucinating. This whole thing can't be happening. What did I do to piss this guy off so much?")

"It's your turn." The man's voice sounded wrong…as if it was overlapped with something far more sinister. Something perverse…

Cheveyo closed his eyes and wavered weakly. ("I…I…I can't give up yet!") He snapped his eyes open and drew. "I activate Card of Sanctity!" His throat burned as bile began to build up in it. "This magic card's special ability forces both players to draw until they have six cards in their hand!" He snapped five cards off of his deck, as did the man. ("I can't pass out…I have to hold out.") "I activate the quickplay magic card Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Coffin Seller!" A blast of wind exploded out of his card and headed towards the trap.

"Reveal Spell Vanishing." The man held up two cards and black shadows crept out of his graveyard, snatched them both, and then pulled them into the slot. "By discarding two cards from my hand I can negate the effect of your magic card and destroy it." Two bolts of orange energy flew out of the trap card and dissipated the wind instantly. "Also, all copies of that card would be discarded from your hand and deck."

Cheveyo looked down at his hand. "That's fine. I just wanted an opening to play this card. I activate Pot of Greed." A large smiling green jar appeared on the field. "This card lets me draw two cards." He snapped two cards off of his deck and the jar exploded into dust. "I set five cards face-down!" Five cards shimmered into existence in front of him, one after the other. "Also, I set a monster face-down. End turn!"

The man drew. "From my hand I play Pot of Greed." A holographic representation of the magic card appeared on his field and he drew two cards. "First I play the magic card Stamping Destruction. This will let me destroy one set card in play and deal you 500 life points of damage." He pointed at the center card. "So now your card will be destroyed and your life points will reach zero!"

Cheveyo pointed at the now face-up card. "I activate Poison of the Old Man!" His card flipped up. "This quickplay magic card lets me either drain you of 800 life points or gain 1200 life points! I'll go for the life gain!" The card exploded into dust as Stamping Destruction destroyed it.

"You still take damage."

"Wrong." Cheveyo pointed at another set card. "I activate Trap of Board Eraser. This counter trap negates one instance of effect damage and forces you to discard a card from your hand."

Cheveyo- 1500

Man- 3800

The man held up a single card and shadows emerged from his graveyard to pull it into the slot. "I summon Element Dragon in attack mode." (1500/1200) A strange pink dragon appeared on the field and roared. "When there is a wind monster in play this monster may attack twice if in its first attack it destroys a monster."

Cheveyo pointed at another card. "Go Curse of Anubis!" A wave of force slammed into the three dragons, forcing them into crouching positions. "This trap card forces all effect monsters in play into defense mode. During this turn their original defense is zero and they cannot switch modes."

The man took a card from his hand and slid it into a slot of his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Cheveyo drew. ("This is one my one chance!") "I summon D.D. Crazy Beast!" (1400/1400) A red and teal googly-eyed beast appeared on the field. "I flip up Maji-Gire Panda (1000/800) in attack mode!" A panda that looked exactly like Gyaku-Gire Panda appeared in play. "D.D. Crazy Beast, attack Armed Dragon Level 7!" The monster launched forwards and bit into the crouching dragon. It shuddered for a moment and then faded away. "When D.D. Crazy Beast defeats a monster in battle that monster is removed from play!"

The man silently waited for the next move of his opponent.

"Maji-Gire Panda, attack Mirage Dragon!" The panda slashed through the golden dragon immediately. "End turn!"

The man drew. "Though you have defeated Armed Dragon Level 7, I will still bring you to your knees." He slid a card into his disk. "I activate the magic card Dimension Return. This card lets me sacrifice a monster in play to special summon one monster from my removed from play pile. That monster has its abilities sealed away, and at the end of that turn it returns to my removed from play pile. Also, it appears on the field in defense position." Armed Dragon Level 7 returned to play.

"Now I activate the magic card Level Up. When used this card will force one level monster in play to increase to its next form." The dragon disappeared in a veil of light and seconds later was replaced by a huge completely metal form of itself. "So now you face Armed Dragon Level 9." (3200/500) It roared mightily and lowered its head to look at Cheveyo. "This duel is nearing its end."

"I still have cards and monsters in play!" Cheveyo wanted to be angry, but all he could muster was the strength to yell.

"Reverse card open." The man's set card flipped up. "Forced Ceasefire lets me discard a card from my hand to prevent any traps from being activated until the end phase of this turn."

Cheveyo glanced at his monsters and frowned. ("Great…")

The man snapped his fingers. "The effect of Armed Dragon Level 9 destroys all monsters in play except for itself when I activate its effect during a main phase. Destroy it all." Snarling, the huge dragon flexed its body and seemed to explode, shards of metal tearing both of Cheveyo's monsters apart. "This effect lets you draw a card when activated. Of course, you also take damage from Coffin Seller."

Cheveyo snapped the top card off of his deck. Then immediately gagged and dry-hurled a couple of times as the purple smoke of the trap card formed itself down his throat.

Cheveyo- 900

Man- 3800

"Armed Dragon Level 9, direct attack. Armed Banisher!" The dragon started to lift its claw into the air.

"Reverse card open! Scapegoat!" Cheveyo pointed at one of his set cards and it flipped up. Four different colored goats appeared on the field. "This quickplay magic card special summons four Scapegoat tokens to the field!"

The Armed Dragon withdrew its claw and the man pointed at his monster. "I activate Armed Dragon's effect again. Destroy it all!" Spikes of metal slammed across the alleyway and destroyed all four of the goats. "Since my battle phase has been passed I end my turn."

Cheveyo drew two cards. One for the effect of Armed Dragon and one for his turn. As he looked at the two front cards his eyes widened. ("What are these cards doing here? And what are they anyway?")

_Placing the cards right underneath his blanket, Cheveyo closed the deck box and placed it back into his backpack. ("I'll be with you in a second.")_

("So that's it…but how did they wind up in my deck?") He looked at the two cards. ("And wasn't there supposed to be a third?")

"Make your move." The shadows around the man started to creep towards Cheveyo, as if they couldn't wait for the end of the duel.

Cheveyo looked at the two cards and licked his lips to dry and concentrate. ("These cards are weird…strong, but weird….how I can use them to win this duel?") He looked up at the Armed Dragon Level 9.

"You will be corrupted by the Wyrm," the man calmly stated. Yet again that dark overlap was in his voice.

("The Wyrm?") Something about that sent shivers up Cheveyo's spine. ("Where have I heard that before?") Shaking his head out, he looked at the three cards in his hand. ("There's no point to summoning these things. They'll just be destroyed by that monstrosity's effect during his next turn. I'm screwed…") He closed his eyes and sighed. "May as well go out with a bang. I summon Hidden Spirit-Wendigo Ahran (1900/1700) in defense mode!" The form that materialized on the field made Cheveyo nearly gasp, if not for the fact that his throat was impossibly dry.

It was a red-skinned muscular warrior in the garb of a Native American warrior. In one hand rested a wooden spear with a steel head. All across the body of the mighty-looking warrior were numerous markings made by black ink to form certain symbols and totems…

It was the face of the monster that surprised Cheveyo though. ("It looks just like me!") Now he was fairly certain that he was losing his mind. ("That's impossible…")

The warrior continued to stand calmly, waiting for an order.

Cheveyo looked down at his hand. For some reason he felt his hopes lift just slightly. ("Maybe I can win…") "From my hand I special summon Hidden Spirit Totem-Wolf!" (1400/1200) A horse-sized grey wolf with numerous burning blue symbols along its fur and a pair of glowing blue eyes appeared on the field. "This monster can only be special summoned from my hand if there is a Hidden Spirit monster in play! At the end phase of this turn it will be returned to my hand! While in play all Hidden Spirits in play other than itself gains 500 attack points!" The wolf tilted back its head and howled. Energy flowed out of the symbols in its fur and flowed into the symbols along the skin of Wendigo Ahran. (2400/1700)

The man's overlapped voice rumbled coldly. "You cannot win with such weak monsters."

All doubt was gone from Cheveyo's mind. This thing was wrong, and it had to be defeated. ("But what…") He glanced at his set card. ("I'd forgotten about that card…but it doesn't matter. That will work…but I'm not going to be able to finish…") He would have stumbled if he could have moved. The rigors of this battle were tearing apart his strength. ("I'm about to faint….I need an answer now…")

The last card is in hand pulsed faintly.

("Will it work? Can I risk it? If I'm wrong then these two monsters will be going to the graveyard for nothing.") Cheveyo closed his eyes. ("Mother, guide my hand!") He held the card up. "Polymerization activates!"

A swirling vortex of energy appeared on the field and sucked both of the monsters into it. And then from within the vortex a single form slowly lowered into play. It was like Wendigo Ahran, except that its clothing was replaced by a wolf's fur that burned with a powerful blue aura. "Spirit Warrior of the Wolf!" (2200/2000)

The man's dark overlap voice rumbled again. "Still not enough. And because you fused a monster you sent those two monsters to the graveyard. So now Coffin Seller will drain you of 600 life points!" Purple smoke forced itself down Cheveyo's lungs, draining him of even more strength.

Cheveyo- 300

Man- 3800

Cheveyo pointed at his monster. "The effect of this monster…" ("How do I even know what it does?") He set that aside to ponder later. "…will be revealed through my set card! Go Shrink!" His face-down card flipped up. "This quickplay magic card will cut the attack of one monster in play in half!" Armed Dragon Level 9 shrank down to the size of a double-decker bus. (1600/500)

"Spirit Warrior of the Wolf gains one counter on it for every magic card that is successfully played! Once per turn I may remove a counter to activate one of its effects!" Cheveyo pointed at his warrior. "During this turn it may attack twice! Go now, Swift Strike of the Wolf!" The warrior launched forwards and pierced the dragon with its spear. Even as the creature began to explode the warrior kept going, driving the spear right into the man's stomach.

If Cheveyo hadn't have already puked out his lunch then he would have done so as an oily black fluid sprayed out of the man's stomach wound. ("Oh that's sick…") "End turn."

Cheveyo- 300

Man- 800

The man, unaffected by his wound, drew. "End turn."

Cheveyo drew, but even didn't bother to look. "Please Spirit Warrior of the Wolf, end this." The warrior dove forwards and slammed its spear into the man's stomach once more, drawing out another spray of the black fluid.

Cheveyo- 300

Man- 0

The mists faded away, allowing Cheveyo to finally fall to his knees. "I won…"

"It's no matter. I made no promises as to what you would get if you won." The man, who was still spraying the oily black fluid out of his stomach wound, started to approach calmly. "The duel was merely for aesthetic purposes." His hands closed around Cheveyo's neck and hefted the boy up into the air.

Cheveyo's eyes revealed betrayal instantly. "You…" Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as the hand around his throat started to squeeze.

"You will be a new convert to the Wyrm, whether you wish to be or not." The man's emotionless eyes clouded over with black.

Cheveyo kicked the man's arm a couple of times, but got no results for his efforts. He was nearly out of air…and after his battle was far too weak to do any kind of fighting. "No…"

"When you next awaken, you will join the hordes."

Cheveyo felt helpless. He had won the duel, but he had accomplished nothing through it. "I refuse to become…a perversion…..like you…"

"You have no choice in the matter." The man's eyes were like a void. They seemed to burn into Cheveyo's very soul. "The Wyrm's followers are everywhere. There is no escape."

He felt helpless. There was no way to escape. Slowly his mind began to withdraw…and it hit something.

The man tightened his grip when Cheveyo's hand snapped up and curled around his wrist. He suddenly found it harder to hold onto the boy's throat though…because it was growing.

* * *

The Jeep continued to drive through the streets of the city.

"We've been driving for freaking ever! Can't we take a break yet?"

"Shut up Conn! We're trying to find what they're looking for before they get to it."

"And what is it?"

"How in the hell should I know? We've been following Fong's directions for Gaia's sake! So tell us almighty Wiseman, where are we going?"

"We are there."

The jeep came to a screeching halt. From within it a wrinkled old hand lifted up and pointed at an alley just a few feet away.

* * *

There was red. It was fire in his stomach. It was primal. It was anger. It was Rage.

And he was reveling in it. Snarling, he tore away another attempt at a counter-attack from his enemy. Every sense was in this fight. He could smell the sick smell of the creature before him, and he knew that it had to be destroyed. Slashing his claws across its midsection, he tried to avoid smelling too deeply. It was such a horrid smell, after all.

What remained of the man fought as strongly as it could. But what it was fighting was beyond its strength. And finally an echoing snap could be heard as the man's head was torn away from his body.

He opened his jaws and deposited the foul tasting head of the perversion to the ground. Throwing back his head he howled his victory to the stars.

"Shit, we've gone and missed the party," An Irish accent reached his ears and he turned his attention to the alleyway entrance. There were five of them…and he would relish tearing through each one of them if they got in his way.

"This is the target indeed," a wizened old voice whispered out.

"Then let's get him already," A gruff female voice quickly said.

"Hang on now, we're going to have to approach this carefully," A British accented voice said chidingly.

"Alright, let's try to take him down gently," A final voice said the last word with authority.

Cheveyo was full of rage…and he wanted to vent it out on something. With that on his side he was like a tank…

But minutes later he was unconscious on the blacktop.

_To be continued…_

To Darkstar71: Interested yet?

To G.O.T. Nick: Well yeah, but this is the beginning. These guys aren't completely expert at the game.

To falcon demon general: Cool, I hope you do.

To Time Mage: He could have, but he has no home. Where would he sell the packs from? As for your chapter, I'm in my finals study time. Between my own writing and my schoolwork I have no time for that. I'll review it right after I post this chapter up.

To Rex: I'm glad that you are very interested in this. So am I.

To Bobbomp: Screw it, I just tried making over six different responses and came up with nothing that would work. So fine, fck it.

To Anime Albino: Same to you.

To Sinister: 'Wonder how this is gonna come out about'? If you meant how this is going to come out, then you'll find out soon enough.

To Gryphinwyrm7: That'll come in a few chapters. But when you see it you'll understand how this story is connected to DDL and LDD.

To Seeker of the Soul: Do you think you have a better grasp concerning this story's plot?

To Raine: Thank you and thank you.

To Lance Murdock: Oh trust me, they're pretty special.

To Adriel: You need to have a deviation every once in a while.


	3. Russians and Angels

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

* * *

_06/28/2025_

_I've seen some pretty crazy stuff in my travels…but last night was some crazy crap. I mean…what was that guy. He definitely wasn't human, but then what was he? That smell…that aura…it was like he was some kind of evil being. But still…what kind of evil was he?_

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost as always

* * *

_

("Ow…my head…") Cheveyo groaned loudly and threw the blanket over his eyes. ("Sunlight is bad…burns…") His eyes snapped open and he leapt up, eyes looking around in confusion. "Daylight?"

He was lying on a large blanket in the middle of a forest clearing. The remnants of a campfire were just a few feet away from him, and all around him were numerous different pieces of camping equipment.

("Where am I?") He reached over and felt his backpack at his side. Opening it, he first checked for his journal and then for his duel disk and deck. And then he checked to see if all of his remaining equipment was inside the bag. ("Where am I? The last thing I remember was…") He shivered at the memory of that perversion of life that he had dueled. ("I blacked out…")

A low growl reached his ears and he froze. Slowly he turned his head to look back at the edge of the clearing.

And there was a dark red-furred wolf sitting just a few feet away from him. It snarled and started to slowly approach him.

* * *

"Fong, you need to stop with the divinations already. We need to go back to camp. Claw won't be able to protect the kid alone if someone finds us." 

"Please do not disturb my concentration. I am trying to understand this sensation I am getting. Energy beyond this spiritual existence is at work here."

"Bloody hell, you're a crazy old bloke Fong."

"Yeah, but at least he's got his wits about him more than you do Jill."

* * *

Cheveyo felt the brush slap against his face over and over again as he ran through the forest. ("I have to get away! Why is it that everything seems to enjoy chasing me?") 

The red wolf continued to follow him, though it held back. If it had wanted it could have easily caught him, but for the moment it was trying to figure out how to convince him to stop.

* * *

Nikolai Feduleyev stepped out from within the cave that the rest of the pack was located within. Taking a cigarette out of his jacket pocket he slipped it into his mouth and lit it in one swift move of the hand. Brushing a few locks of his long silver hair back, he took a deep puff and let the smoke rise up out of his mouth and into the air. ("We have to come all of this way for some kid. He'd better be good enough to be worth it.") Even in his mind his Russian accent was easily discernable.

* * *

Cheveyo went rolling down the steep part of the hill. ("I should….ow….have been…..ow…..looking where I was….going….ow!") 

The red wolf sat at the top of the hill, huffing in anger. ("Stupid human.")

* * *

Nikolai froze and slid the cigarette out of his mouth. He took a deep sniff of the air and frowned. "Shit." Flicking the nearly burned out stick at his feet, he stomped his combat boots onto it and reached down to pick up his duel disk. ("You're not getting away. If I have to bind you, then so be it.")

* * *

Cheveyo hit the bottom of the hill running. ("Oh please don't….please…please!") He skidded to a stop as he realized that he had reached the end of the line. In front of him was a large pool of water that blocked his path. ("There's no way around it that would get me away from that…") 

"Boy!"

Cheveyo's head snapped up and he blinked in surprise at what was standing across the pool from him. It was a man wearing a black vest that covered over his muscular chest, with a huge mass of silver spiky hair that came down his back and shoulders in lines. His calm blue eyes reflected the strength in his face and stance. "Who are you?"

"My name is Nikolai. I challenge you to a duel."

Groaning, Cheveyo started to back up. "I think I'll pass….but maybe next time…" A snarl from behind him caused him to freeze.

"You won't be leaving. Duel me here and now. If you win then you're free to go and the wolf will leave you alone. Lose and the wolf will tear you apart." Nikolai's disk slid into place. "So let's begin."

Cheveyo grimaced and removed his disk and deck from the backpack. Dropping it at his side, he slid it onto his arm and stepped to the edge of the pool. Lifting the device up, he activated it and slammed his disk into place. "Fine, then let's duel. When I win, you'll leave me alone right?"

"Correct, you'll be untouched by me and my associates." Nikolai calmly drew. "But I somehow doubt that will be happening."

"I'll show you!" Cheveyo smirked and drew.

Cheveyo- 4000

Nikolai- 4000

Cheveyo looked at the cards in his hand and smiled slightly. ("A good balanced set of cards to get on the first draw. This guy's toast.") "I set one monster face-down on the field and three cards face-down. End turn." A horizontal card appeared, as did three cards behind it.

Nikolai drew. "A defensive start…" His eyes flicked to the drawn card and he placed it onto his disk. "I summon Seraphim Gunslinger (1700/1200) in attack mode." The water of the pool turned into a swirling whirlpool and an angelic form floated out of the hole onto the field. It was a feather-winged man with a cowboy tilted over his face to hide his head. Slowly it tilted the hat back enough to reveal one green eye that watched Cheveyo coldly.

"Attack the set monster now!" Snapping its wings back, the Seraphim broke out a pair of handguns that it snapped up to point at the set card. Two loud blasts rippled the water as the set monster was blown apart.

Cheveyo held up his arm to keep the water off of his face. "Reverse card open! Rope of Life!" A golden rope fell out of thin air and dropped into the water. "This trap card lets me discard my hand to special summon back the monster that was just destroyed!" The roped drew itself upwards and pulled a brown-furred beast into view. "This card revives Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200) with 800 more attack points!" (2300/1200)

Nikolai looked down at his hand cards. "End turn."

Cheveyo drew. "From my hand I play Pot of Greed!" A green smiling jar appeared on his field. "This card's special ability lets me draw two cards!" Snapping two cards off of his deck, the boy smirked slightly. "Go Gazelle, attack Seraphim Gunslinger now!" The beast roared and slashed its claws across the angel's chest, blowing it apart. "End turn by setting two cards face-down!" Two new cards appeared on his field.

Nikolai drew. "You think you have an advantage?"

Cheveyo blinked in surprise and looked at his opponent's life point total. "But…why didn't you take life point damage?"

"When Seraphim Gunslinger is destroyed in battle all battle damage to me is zero." The man looked at his drawn card. "All I do for this turn is simply set a monster face-down and one card down behind it. End turn." The two called cards appeared on the field.

Cheveyo drew. ("I've already got him on the ropes…") When his eyes looked upon the drawn card he nearly gasped in surprise. ("Hidden Spirits Totem-Wolf…the card from before that fused with Wendigo Ahroun into Spirit Warrior of the Wolf. Without a Hidden Spirit monster in play it can't be summoned though, so for now I'll just have to work with Gazelle.") "Gazelle! Attack the set monster now!" The beast slashed through the set monster.

Nikolai held up the card. "Agido's (1500/1300) special ability activates now. When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle its effect triggers. Now I roll a die. I may revive one angel of the rolled number in level stars from my graveyard!" He held up a white die which he hurled across the water. It landed on the surface of the water and stopped on a four. "And because it is a four, I special summon Seraphim Gunslinger back to the field!" In a flash of light the angel reappeared, its guns at ready.

Cheveyo gulped in surprise. "I end my turn…"

Nikolai drew. "Then now the stage is set for your end. I play the field magic card Sanctuary in the Sky!" All around the pool huge white pillars sprang up, and golden light fell upon the field. "While this card is in play all battle damage through angels is zero!"

"Your monster already had that effect." Cheveyo felt something frightening about this opponent. It was a power that was something beyond his control….and his experience. ("I'm not sure if my cards are cut out for this.")

Nikolai took another card from his hand and placed it down. "Now I summon Warrior of Zera to the field." (1600/1600) A warrior holding a single brown sword appeared in play. "Now I sacrifice this monster to special summon Archangel Zerato!" (2800/2300) The warrior disappeared in a flash of light and was replaced by a huge angel holding a long curved scimitar. "This monster will be your end. Zerato, attack Gazelle now!"

"Reveal Shadow Spell!" One of Cheveyo's set cards flipped up and released a spray of chains that swallowed up Zerato. "This continuous trap will prevent your monster from attacking or from switching modes. Also, its attack drops by 700!" (2100/2300) "So now I can destroy it next turn!" The Native American boy felt better. This duel was his.

"Archangel Zerato's special ability activates now!" Nikolai discarded a card from his hand. "By discarding one light attribute monster from my hand I can destroy all monsters in play if Sanctuary in the Sky is active!" The mighty angel flapped its wings once and a golden dust fell over Gazelle, blowing it apart. "End turn."

Cheveyo drew. ("This card won't do me any good.") "I end my turn."

"Then you truly aren't as good as I wished you to be." Nikolai drew. "However, I will treat you as a serious opponent all the same!" He threw a card down. "I summon The Angel of Force-Mars!" (0/0) A red-skinned angel holding a hammer appeared on the field. "Now Seraphim Gunner, attack his life points directly!" The angel's wings snapped back and it aimed its guns right at Cheveyo. Letting out a pair of expert shots, Cheveyo cried out and stumbled back a step.

Cheveyo- 2300

Nikolai- 4000

("At least…that's all the damage he can do to me for this turn.") Cheveyo started to reach for his deck…but cried out in pain again as a hammer slammed down onto his shoulder. "What?"

Cheveyo- 600

Nikolai- 4000

Nikolai shook his head slowly. "Foolish boy…Mar's special effect raises its attack and defense points by the difference in our life points if my life is higher than yours." (3400/3400) "So therefore when Seraphim Gunner attacked you then you lost 1700, so the attack of Mars was 1700. However, because of your trap Zerato cannot attack. Therefore my turn is done."

Cheveyo stumbled to his feet and drew. ("With an effect like that there is almost no way for me to overcome this guy. But I have to try…") He looked at the drawn card. ("Alright! It's Hidden Spirit-Wendigo Ahroun.") Taking the card, he threw it down. "I summon Hidden Spirit-Wendigo Ahroun (1900/1700) in attack mode!" A red-skinned man wearing Native American warrior clothing appeared on the field.

"Also, from my hand I special summon Hidden Spirit Totem-Wolf!" (1400/1200) A huge wolf with blue symbols in its fur appeared in play and howled. "This monster raises the attack of all Hidden Spirits in play by 500 while it is in play!" (2400/1700) Wendigo Ahroun lifted its spear and eyed the three angels.

Nikolai looked at Mars. "My monster is at 3400 attack points. Nothing you have will be enough to finish it off."

"We'll see about that!" Cheveyo slammed the last card in his hand into his disk. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! This quickplay magic card will destroy Sanctuary in the Sky!" A blast of wind shattered the temple-like surroundings around them. "And because that card leaves play the attack of Mar's now becomes zero!" (0/0) "Wolf Totem, Spiritual Flame!" The wolf howled out a blast of blue fire that washed over the red angel and blew it apart.

Cheveyo- 600

Nikolai- 2600

"Wendigo Ahroun, attack Zerato now!" The warrior howled in tandem with the Totem and dove forwards, piercing through the weakened angel's chest with its spear and blowing it apart.

Cheveyo- 600

Nikolai- 2200

Nikolai frowned slightly as a sound reached his ears. It was snickering.

"What's the matter Nikolai? You gettin yer arse kicked by a kid? And here I thought you were the big bad leader." Sitting on a rock not too far away was a man in dark green pants and an orange shirt. Rubbing at his stubble, the red-haired man snickered again. "Or maybe this is just beyond you?"

"Silence yourself Conn." Nikolai drew. "I assume your turn is done?"

Cheveyo was surprised by the arrival of the new guy, but he wouldn't let it break his concentration. "At the end phase of my turn Hidden Spirit Totem-Wolf returns to my hand." The wolf disappeared and the power burst for Wendigo Ahroun disappeared with it. (1900/1700) "End turn."

Nikolai looked at his drawn card. "I activate my Pot of Greed. Now I draw two cards." He drew twice. "Now I play the continuous magic card Spell Absorption. As long as this card is in play I'll gain 500 life points per magic card that is played. Now I play Sanctuary in the Sky!" All around them the field warped and changed into its temple form again.

Cheveyo- 600

Nikolai- 2200

Cheveyo frowned. ("Not good….he has that field card back in play again.")

Nikolai closed his eyes. "I reveal Call of the Haunted. This trap card will revive one monster from my graveyard to the field. Revive now Warrior of Zera." The warrior appeared on the field again. "And now I activate the magic card Monster Reborn. This card will revive one monster from my graveyard to the field. Archangel Zerato shall be revived when I sacrifice Warrior of Zera!" The warrior disappeared in a flash of light and the mighty angel lord appeared on the field.

Cheveyo- 600

Nikolai- 2700

Cheveyo frowned and pointed at one of his set cards. "Go Threatening Roar!" A blast of sound tore across the field and shook the temple. "During this turn you cannot attack."

Nikolai frowned and glanced back at Conn. "Not a word out of you. End turn."

Cheveyo drew. ("Alright, I got it!") "From my hand I play Polymerization! This card lets me fuse Hidden Spirit-Wendigo Ahroun and Hidden Spirit Totem-Wolf together!" The wolf appeared on the field and howled as it and the warrior were pulled into a glowing vortex. The emerging warrior was just like Wendigo Ahroun except that it was clothed in a wolf's fur. "Spirit Warrior of the Wolf!" (2200/2000)

Cheveyo- 600

Nikolai- 3200

Nikolai's eyes widened. ("What is that thing…and why do I feel an aura of power from it?")

"Reverse card open!" Cheveyo pointed at one of his set cards. "I activate the continuous magic card Sealing Swords of Death! This magic card will drain the attack of all of your monsters by 200 per monster in my graveyard! This card will only last two turns though!"

Archangel Zerato (1800/2300)

Seraphim Gunner (700/1200)

"Spirit Warrior of the Wolf, attack Zerato now!" The warrior drove its spear into the angel's chest and blew it apart. "Because of Sanctuary in the Sky you take no life point damage during this turn. So I end my turn."

Cheveyo- 600

Nikolai- 3700

Nikolai drew. "Now I play…the continuous magic card Golden Altar." A golden altar appeared behind the Seraphim Gunner. "For this card's effect to work I have to sacrifice 1000 life points and give them to you. Also, I must destroy one angel in play." Seraphim Gunner exploded into dust. "Prepare yourself boy…for a power beyond your comprehension. Golden Altar lets me special summon one angel from my deck that has twice the level stars of the sacrificed angel monster."

Cheveyo- 1600

Nikolai- 3200

* * *

Jill Heaton, an attractive woman in a smart black business suit, sat down next to Conn. "So Nikolai's dueling the kid huh?"

"Yup. And from what I can see that kid's about to get his arse kicked swiftly," Conn Ronain's Irish accent always sounded funny to her, but she understood basically what he had meant.

"Nikolai takes the boy too lightly." Fong Suzuki, an old Japanese man in a pair of black kung-fu pants and shirt sat down on ground next to the two. "His spirit is strong for him to have to been able to defeat one of the Wyrm spawn in a duel."

"Still…this is Nikolai we're talking about." Jill pouted gently. "Mister 'I'm so full of my own royal self that I once nearly killed a man for not referring to me as such."

Conn smiled slightly. "I want to see the kid myself. He has it in him, I know it."

* * *

Nikolai caught a card that was spat out of his deck and threw it down. "I summon Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000) to the field!" A woman in white robes appeared on the field, her voice a heavenly chant.

Cheveyo smiled slightly. "But the effect of my Sealing Swords of Death drains your monster of attack power."

"Not true actually…" Nikolai pointed at the Golden Altar. "When I use the effect of Golden Altar, I can sacrifice it and one card in play to destroy all magic and trap cards on your field if Sanctuary in the Sky is in play!" The Altar exploded, as did Spell Absorption. Then both Cheveyo's Swords and his set card shattered.

"You're left open now! Go Joan, Heavenly Chant!" The woman began to sing…and Spirit Warrior of the Wolf cried out in pain as it exploded into dust. "Guardian Angel Joan has a special ability as well! When she destroys a monster as result of battle I gain life points equal to the attack of the destroyed monster!" Golden light fell around Nikolai's feet. "Since I have no more cards in my hand, my turn is done."

Cheveyo- 1000

Nikolai- 5400

Cheveyo dropped to one knee and felt every wound he had sustained from his duel last night start to creep up on him. ("He's like some kind of monster. No matter what I do I can't match him at this.")

_To be continued…_

Author's Notes: This chapter was longer, but I thought it better to split the information into smaller bits so that you guys don't burn yourselves out by reading it. Also…

To Rex: Thanks for the kind words good sir. As for the Wyrm, you'll learn about it soon.

To G.O.T. Nick: And thanks to you as well. Trust me, Wendigo Ahroun is the tip of the iceberg as to what these cards can do.

To Raine: You're meant to be confused at this point in the story. I won't make everything so cut and dry in this.

To John: A Phoenix huh? The Wyrm isn't a group. You'll understand soon.

To falcon demon general: You think things were heating up last chapter?

To Sinister: Yup…that it is.

To the real agent smith: Yeah, it does huh: P

To Seeker of the Soul: You're warm, but still off by a bit.


	4. Awakening

Disclaimer is located at the bottom of this story.

* * *

_06/28/2025_

_Is it 'Cheveyo attracts the crazy people' week? I mean come on, first the perversion and then this psychopath challenges me to a duel. If I lose he's going to feed me to his pet wolf. Does anyone else ever have problems like this? If so, then help me!_

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost as always

* * *

_

"Get up and draw. I will not let you give up." Nikolai glared at the kneeling boy coldly. "Stand up."

Cheveyo clenched his fist. ("I'm injured…I shouldn't even be standing…") His eyes snapped open. ("Wait a second…") Looking down at his opening and closing fingers, it occurred to him. ("Why can I stand? In fact…all I feel is a dull throbbing from wounds that felt fatal last night.")

"Stand up. I'm not going to tell you again." Nikolai waited as patiently as he could.

Cheveyo continued to stare at his hand. "What did you do to me? How did I survive last night?"

Nikolai opened his mouth to speak, but Fong stepped up alongside him. "Let me ask you something, boy. Have you ever felt different than other children? Have you ever looked at the cities of the world and felt slightly sickened? Have you ever been in the prescense of something so disturbing it actually makes you angry to the point of losing control?"

Cheveyo frowned slightly. "I did…but so what. We all…"

"No, not like how you do." The man ran a hand through his beard. "Have you ever wondered what happened to your mother?"

At the mention of that Cheveyo's eyes widened and he stood up. "You knew my mother? Where is she?"

Nikolai snapped his arm up in front of Fong. "Not another word Fong. If he wants to find out then he'll win this duel." His lip lifted slightly into a dark smile. "So, can you win boy?"

Cheveyo narrowed his eyes. "You won't get in my way! I will learn the truth!"

"Your mother was a whore. I knew her as well." Nikolai smirked. "She was a weak woman, and couldn't commit to anything. You're nothing but a mistake of hers, or so I've heard."

Conn growled and cracked his knuckles. "Leader or no I'm about to punch that smug bastard right in his mouth."

Fong stood silently, his eyes upon Cheveyo.

Cheveyo clenched his fists so tightly that they turned white. "You…how dare you! What gives you the right to speak about my mother?"

Nikolai held up his middle finger. "I have the right because she was a whore. And she wasn't even that good in bed."

Cheveyo saw red. "You bastard…" He was about to charge…and then fell to his knees.

Conn started to stand…but Jill held her arm out to stop him.

Cheveyo's fingers dug into the dirt roughly. "What…." The boy felt pain in his body…and something else. It was an energy that burned through him like a supernova. He felt his muscles starting to swell slowly underneath his clothing. "Stop it!"

"I'm not the one doing it." Nikolai's expression returned to neutral. "It's all you."

("Me? I'm doing this? How?") Cheveyo felt the change speeding up painfully. His muscles continued to grow and slowly his clothing started to find itself hard pressed to hold together.

"Get ready." Nikolai glanced back to Conn and Jill. "If he goes into Rage then remember to take him down gently."

Cheveyo felt sweat pour down his face, which was rapidly stretching outwards. Throwing back his head he screamed…and the sound came out like the howl of some kind of otherworldly creature.

Fong continued to watch. ("Don't succumb to the Rage. Use your will…find your path now.")

Cheveyo's borrowed black shirt began to tear along the arms, tufts of fur sprouting all along his body. ("STOP IT! STOP!") No matter what he willed, it wouldn't stop though. ("NO! I DON'T WANT THIS!") He threw back his head and howled again, this time the sound much more earthly.

Conn pushed past Jill. "Screw this crazy shit! He's in pain!"

Nikolai turned on one heel and snarled. "Stop!"

The Irish man skidded to a stop.

Cheveyo felt the last remnants of the shirt tear away. His muscles were still changing and growing. He couldn't see what he looked like, but he felt like something that screamed wrong to his senses. ("STOP IT!")

Nikolai closed his eyes. ("You're fighting it…but not in the correct way.")

Cheveyo had his eyes closed as well. Whatever feelings that had been within his body were subsiding. ("I don't want this…let me go…let me go…get out!")

"He's not ready to change yet Nikolai!" Conn leapt forwards again…and gasped in surprise as Fong slammed a palm right into his ribs, sending him rolling head over heels back the way he came.

"We do not determine when the time is right for one to control the change. This is his time." Vibrant steel-grey eyes turned to look back at Cheveyo.

Throwing back his head again, Cheveyo howled in sorrow. ("I don't want this! What am I?")

Nikolai betrayed his emotions in a grimace. "Boy!" He concentrated…and felt his familiar strength begin to emerge.

Cheveyo's eyes snapped up…and widened hugely at what he saw standing where Nikolai had been.

At first it was hard to discern what it was. It was like a wolf if it was standing upright…but wolves didn't have the kinds of muscles this thing had. It looked like it could cut through steel with its claws. An ape…that was what is reminded him of. Some kind of fusion of wolf and ape that was standing tall.

Brushing back a few spikes of his silver hair, Nikolai began to speak. It was rough and guttural sounding, but it was speech. "You are far from alone. It is not a curse, nor a blessing. It is your birthright." He lifted his arm to show his duel disk, which had changed and grown along with him. "Stand up, Cheveyo Qua. Don't let yourself be worried about what you are for now. You are fighting to learn the truth about your mother."

Cheveyo's eyes reflected uncertainty for another moment…and then hardened. ("I can't surrender. If they know what happened to my mother, then I can't simply give up!") He opened his jaws, surprised at how difficult it was to talk. "I will not lose this chance! Draw!" His arm snapped the top card off of his deck. "Card of Sanctity forces us both to draw to six cards!" He fanned out his new hand.

Nikolai drew six cards, but didn't look at them yet. ("Accept your lineage…and let's see if you're truly meant to be the warrior.")

Cheveyo looked at the drawn cards one after another. At the sight of the last one he gasped. ("This is…it must have been the third card from the three I took out of that box!") "From my hand…I play Warrior Returning Alive!" He caught a card that was spat out of his graveyard. "Its ability returns Wendigo Ahroun!" The card slapped down onto his disk and the warrior reappeared.

"That monster will do nothing more than contribute to my life points when Guardian Angel Joan runs it over." Nikolai crossed his arms across his barrel-like chest. "That monster is not the answer."

"No. This card is." Cheveyo's field magic card slot opened. "Field magic card…Moonlight Caern!" All around them the temple pillars crumbled and crashed into the pool, spraying water everywhere. "In this place…" The bright sky of day was replaced by the soft dark blue of a full moon night. Everyone now stood within a circle of stones that had symbols etched into them. Each symbol, one after another, started to glow with a soft blue light. "...allows me to summon Hidden Spirit Totems without there needing to be a Hidden Spirit in play. Also, all effect damage I would take that involves a Hidden Spirit monster is zero."

"If that's all your card does then you're still left without an answer." Nikolai was slightly angered that his Sanctuary in the Sky had been torn down, but he refused to let it show.

"No…the answer rests on the field." Cheveyo concentrated on the duel. He couldn't lose his focus. "The effect of Wendigo Ahroun allows me to once per main phase give it one of two bonuses. Either I may turn it into a beast monster with 700 extra attack points or I may change it into a beast-warrior with an extra 1000!" The Native American warrior started to rapidly morph, his body changing into that of the same forms as Cheveyo and Nikolai. (2900/1700)

Nikolai actually let out a quiet little gasp. "2900…"

Cheveyo pointed at Joan. "I will find out the truth! Go now Wendigo Ahroun, attack Guardian Angel Joan now!" The transformed warrior leapt high into the air and came down with a claw slash that blew the angel apart.

Cheveyo- 1000

Nikolai- 5300

Nikolai stared at the close-up of the warrior in amazement. ("What are you? You aren't just a card.")

Wendigo Ahroun returned to Cheveyo's field. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Nikolai cleared his mind and drew. ("I won't make this easy for you.") "From my hand I activate the magic card Terraforming." He removed his deck from its slot. "This card lets me add one field magic card to my hand." After replacing his deck he opened his field magic card slot and placed it in. "Sanctuary in the Sky returns to play." Light flooded the area as it returned to the temple-like area.

Cheveyo gasped gruffly as he watched the mighty form of the Wendigo Ahroun return to normal. (1900/1700)

"Now I summon Mudora." (1500/1800) A muscular gold-helmeted fighter holding a knife appeared on the field. "For every angel in my graveyard he gains 200 attack points." (2800/1800) "Attack now!"

"Reveal Raigeki Break!" Cheveyo discarded a card from his hand. "This trap destroys one card in play!" The trap released a blast of lightning that hit the fighter and blew it apart.

Nikolai slid two cards into his disk. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn." Now he had three cards in his hand, as opposed to Cheveyo's two.

Cheveyo drew. ("My deck isn't ready for this guy. But still…") "Wendigo Ahroun, attack his life points directly!" The warrior lifted its spear and launched forwards.

"Reveal Draining Shield!" Nikolai's face-down card flipped to reveal a glowing barrier of green light. "This trap card will defend my life points by negating your attack and giving me life gain equal to the attack of the negated monster."

Cheveyo- 1000

Nikolai- 7200

Cheveyo paled and placed a card face-down on his disk. "I set one monster face-down on the field and two cards face-down. End turn." As the cards shimmered into existence he knew that the rest of his chances at winning relied on his making these last few cards he still had count.

Nikolai drew and with the same hand motioned at his set card. "Cry of Heaven activates! This continuous trap revives one angel monster to the field in defense mode!" Mars appeared in a crouching position. "I sacrifice Mars to summon The Angel of Judgment-Saturn!" (2400/0) A purple-skinned woman in regal robes appeared on the field. "Attack the Wendigo Ahroun now!" She lifted her arms and released a ball of energy that hurtled towards the warrior.

"Reveal Shift!" Cheveyo's set card flipped face-up. "This card allows me to redirect your attack to my set monster!" The blast swerved and slammed into the set card, blowing it apart. "And that was my Nimble Momonga (1000/100) which when destroyed as a result of battle lets me gain 1000 life points! Also, the other two in my deck are special summoned!" Two new set cards appeared on the field.

Cheveyo- 2000

Nikolai- 7200

Nikolai looked at his hand cards. ("I'm ready for you.") "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Cheveyo drew. ("I can't stop the next attack of Saturn with these cards. However…") "I set one card face-down and switch Wendigo Ahroun into defense mode." The warrior dropped to one knee. "End turn."

Nikolai drew. "This duel is nearing its end. By sacrificing my monster and my battle phase I can deal life point damage to you equal to the life point total of me minus the life point total of you!" Saturn disappeared, replaced by a glowing ball of light. "Take this! Your life points are gone!"

"Reverse card open!" The fireball disappeared. "Trap of Board Eraser negates effect damage to my life points and forces you to discard a card from your hand!"

Nikolai frowned and placed a card face-down on his disk. "I set a monster face-down and a card face-down. End turn."

Cheveyo drew. ("Here's my chance! He lost his best monster.") Looking at the drawn card he nodded. "I switch Wendigo Ahroun into attack mode!" The warrior stood up. "I attack with Wendigo Ahroun!" The warrior drove its spear right through the set monster, blowing it apart. "And I end my turn by playing Mirage of Nightmare!"

Nikolai drew. "During my standby phase you draw until you have four cards in your hand. However, I'll make sure that each and every one of those cards make you pay for it! Reveal continuous trap card Greed! During the end phase of each turn a player will take 500 life points of damage for each card they draw outside of their draw phase! You drew four, so math says you lose."

"Reveal Emergency Provisions!" Cheveyo's face-down card flipped up. "I sacrifice Mirage of Nightmare and raise my life points by 1000!" The card disappeared in a flash of light.

Cheveyo- 3000

Nikolai- 7200

Nikolai slid his drawn card into his disk. "I activate the power of Wrath of Angels. This continuous magic card can only activate if I have Sanctuary in the Sky in play, no monsters, and I sacrifice a magic or trap card." His set card disappeared. "Now I special summon three angel monsters from my graveyard to the field." Saturn, Guardian Angel Joan, and Mudora appeared on the field. (2400/0) (2800/2000) (2500/1800)

Cheveyo paled slightly. ("Oh man…")

"Guardian Angel Joan, attack Wendigo Ahroun!" The red-haired angel waved her hand and the warrior blew apart. "And as you remember, when she destroys a monster I gain life points equal to that monster's attack points!"

Cheveyo- 2100

Nikolai- 9100

Cheveyo threw up his arms just in time, as Mudora and Saturn blew the two set Nimble Momongas apart. "When Nimble Momonga is destroyed I gain 1000 life points!"

Cheveyo- 4100

Nikolai- 9100

Nikolai closed his eyes and smirked, revealing a row of sharp fangs. "It doesn't matter. You're defeated."

Cheveyo- 2100

Nikolai- 9100

"Not yet! I'm going to find out what happened to my mother!" Cheveyo looked down at his deck. ("But what cards are left? Is there any kind of combo left in this deck that can defeat this guy? Wendigo Ahroun's attack power was supposed to be enough.") Clenching his fist, he drew. Snapping the card up, he gasped in surprise. ("What's this? How did this card get into my deck?")

"Hurry up and make your move." Nikolai tapped his clawed foot impatiently.

Cheveyo held up a card. "I activate the magic card Conquest of the Lands of the Dead! This magic card adds one field magic card from my graveyard into my hand!" He caught a card that was spat out of his graveyard. ("It's all or nothing!") "Next is Spell Reproduction. This magic card requires that I discard two magic cards for it activate! Now I take back one magic card from my graveyard!" Removing another card from his graveyard, he drew off the top of his deck. "Repayment of Losses, which I discarded, lets me draw one card." Now he had four cards in hand.

"You're a lost cause if you think Moonlight Caern is going to make a difference."

"I'm not done yet! From my hand I activate Monster Reborn! Revive Wendigo Ahroun!" The Native American warrior appeared on the field.

"You bring that monster back hmm? I'll crush it like before."

"No, you won't!" Cheveyo slammed a card onto his disk. "I summon Hidden Spirit-Silver Fang Philodox!" (1300/800) There was a flash of light and a humanoid figure hit the field.

Nikolai, along with the rest of the spectators, gasped. "What trickery is this?"

Standing on Cheveyo's field was a warrior wearing light silver armor. In one of its hands rested a large thick sword forged from pure silver. And…it looked just like Nikolai.

Even Cheveyo was surprised by this. ("First me and then this guy? What the heck does that mean? No! I can't let myself get distracted!") "I activate Moonlight Caern!" The temple setting faded away and was replaced by the night scenery of the stone circle. "I'll activate the effect of Ahroun and Philodox! Transform!" Both warriors changed rapidly, now resembling the two wolf creatures that were dueling. (2900/1700) (2300/800)

Nikolai frowned. "Interesting…but not impressive. I can defeat both these monsters and wipe out your life points soon enough."

Cheveyo looked at the card in his hand. ("Please be the answer I'm seeking.") "I activate Polymerization!" Both wolves leapt into the air and were sucked into a glowing vortex of light. "Emerge now, Hidden Spirit-Judgment Warrior!" (2000/1800)A warrior in silver clothing appeared on the field, a silver spear held in one hand. It opened its blue eyes and slammed the butt of its spear into the ground. "The effect of Judgment Warrior while Moonlight Caern is in play changes my monster into a beast-warrior and raises its attack points by 1000 points!" The warrior rapidly changed, transforming into a black and silver furred wolf creature. (3000/1800)

"So now you have the strongest monster in play. So what?" Nikolai started to sneer. "Take a look at my field. You'll have to attack Saturn just to make sure that I don't destroy you next turn with her effect."

"No, I'll be attacking every monster on your field!" Cheveyo pointed at his monster. "When you have a monster in play I can pay 1000 life points during my battle phase to let this monster attack again! So I pay 2000 life points now!"

Cheveyo- 100

Nikolai- 9100

"Judgment Warrior, attack them all! Silver Flurry!" The warrior howled and charged, moving through the three angels like a tornado of silver and black. A few seconds later all three monsters exploded into dust. "End turn!"

Cheveyo- 100

Nikolai- 7800

Conn stared at the field in amazement. "Does anyone else feel more than a little creeped out by the cards this kid has?"

Jill rubbed his chin…and then took a small device out of her business suit pocket. "It's very interesting indeed. To think that the cards he possesses resemble himself and Nikolai…and the field magic card…and especially the name of his cards."

"It is an irony of fate I suppose." Fong sat down and crossed his legs.

Nikolai grimaced and drew. "You're impressive, but not good enough. I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Cheveyo drew. "Here's my chance…attack!"

"Reveal Luminous Burst!" Nikolai pointed at his now face-up card. "This trap card will deal us both 1000 life points of damage!" An explosion of light flooded the field, blinding both duelists.

Cheveyo- 0

Nikolai- 6800

Cheveyo dropped to one knee, panting weakly. ("No…I lost…")

Nikolai turned and approached Fong. "What's the deal? Did you find out anything about the things searching for him?"

The old man was already standing, tilting his head way up to look at the nine foot tall creature before him with no more fear than as if he was talking to a friend. "To an extent yes. However, there are still many unknowns in this situation. I am unsure whether to be surprised or afraid that we have so little information about this foe."

"You're as odd as ever, old man." Nikolai glanced behind him to the still kneeling Cheveyo. "Get up."

Cheveyo wasn't listening. His eyes were transfixed by the image staring back at him from the pool. It was that of a creature similar to Nikolai, except for the fact that the fur was pure black. That…and the eyes. ("They're my eyes…")

"As the one who lost to me, you'll stand up and come with us. Don't argue." Nikolai turned and walked towards the campsite.

Conn sighed and went around the pool to Cheveyo. "Hey kid, are you alright?"

The red furred wolf had already left.

Jill glanced at Fong. "What do you think? Is he strong enough to be useful to us?"

"It is not a matter of being useful," The old man ran a hand through his beard. "It is a matter of letting him understand his strength. He must learn quickly of his heritage though, because time is something we have little of. Something or someone wants him badly, and we may not be enough to keep him safe and out of their hands."

Jill shook her head slowly. "You make little sense. Perhaps you should stop trying to be like Confucius?"

Coughing, Fong turned and walked towards camp slowly. "Perhaps Confucius should stop trying to be like me."

Jill rubbed her forehead with a palm. ("Jeez…")

_To be continued…_

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh or the World of Darkness.

To Mario: Actually yes. There will be a couple of cameo appearances soon.

To john: No. The Wyrm is not a group. It is a single thing.

To falcon demon general: I hope this duel was to your liking.

To Darkstar71: You must wait no longer.


	5. Life is a battlefield

Disclaimer: No I do now own Yugioh or the World of Darkness.

* * *

_06/29/2025_

_What am I?_

_Am I a monster?_

_Am I some kind of evil demon?_

_What am I?_

_All I've gotten is the crap beaten out of me by this evil bastard. I could try to run…but I've got nowhere to go. So at least these guys can feed me._

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost as always

* * *

_

Cheveyo closed his journal and dropped it into his backpack. Pulling the blanket around him tightly, he shivered again at the memories of his transformation. ("What am I?")

The jeep bumped up and down rapidly as it traveled through the treacherous roads of the forest.

"Can't you drive a little more carefully Nikolai?" Jill barely avoided slamming her head against the dashboard.

"This is careful," the man calmly continued to drive, sending every passenger in the vehicle lurching and flying about.

"Ya blood bas…" Conn's sentence was cut off as Fire Claw was thrown at him from the force of a turn.

Out of everyone in the vehicle, Fong was the one that was unaffected by the lurching. He sat cross-legged in his seat and continued to meditate.

Cheveyo wrapped the blanket around himself tighter. He wasn't sure how he had done it, but he was human again. And he never wanted to change into whatever that thing was ever again. ("I don't want to turn into a monster. Can't I just go back to dueling for money and being a drifter?")

Conn shoved Fire Claw off of him and slid into the back next to Cheveyo. "Hey."

The boy didn't respond except to curl the blanket tighter around himself.

"If yer thinkin ta confuse me then yer dead wrong." Tugging the blanket back so that he could see Cheveyo's head, the Irish man sighed and looked out the back window. "Ya know, you're taking it too seriously."

"Are you crazy?" Cheveyo clenched his head in his hands. "I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster. The monsters are the things that we fight. You can think of us as the anti-monsters." He grinned winningly…but dropped it when he realized that it wasn't going to work. "Bloody 'ell kid, cheer up."

"Tell me what I am." Cheveyo glanced at Conn. "Tell me."

"Well yer a…."

Something slammed into the hood of the jeep. Something that was nearly as large as the jeep. And everyone felt it as the whole vehicle flipped and then skidded out of control.

* * *

Cheveyo slowly crawled out of what was left of the jeep. ("Oww…that hurts…") 

"So you're the kid huh?"

As his inner ear brought itself to concentration, Cheveyo felt it. ("Like the perversion…RUN!") Leaping to his feet, the boy started to run for all he was worth.

A hand snapped out and grabbed him by the back of the neck. "You're not going anywhere."

Cheveyo screamed and spun around, throwing as hard of a kick as he could.

Whoever his assailant was caught the leg and sent him crashing face-first to the ground. "You're not an action hero." A sound like a flute being played reached his ears…and he realized that there more going on here. Opening his eyes, he saw a sight that scared and drew him in at the same time.

There was some kind of warped lizard-like creature in the middle of the road. It was the size of a tank, and it was made up all different kinds of tentacles, claws, and teeth. Like it was made for battle. Yet it was so strange he had trouble identifying what it was.

Whoever now had him pinned to the ground blew into something and a high-pitched flute-like noise echoed across the forest again.

And the monster changed tactics.

("What's it moving like that for? It's like it's dancing…") Cheveyo's eyes widened as he realized that it was fighting. Its foes were moving so quickly…and he understood why it felt so hard to identify the monster. It was fighting with a group of five blurs…

* * *

Nikolai snarled and drove his claws into an open space in the thing's flesh. One of its numerous tentacles flipped around to try and knock him away, so like before he withdrew his claws before he could deal lasting damage. "This is pointless!" No matter what they did they'd have to break off before they could damage it. 

Jill, a strangely beautiful-looking brown wolf, bit into a tentacle that had been about to pierce through Nikolai's chest. ("We need to figure out a way to kill this thing quickly!")

Cheveyo stared in amazement at the five he had seen in the jeep before. Each one seemed to be in a nearly constant state of movement. In mid-move some of them were wolves, and some were the huge wolf-like beasts that still burned in his memory. And then moments later they'd switch forms and continue to fight. It was like a dance of death…except from what he could tell they were doing more dodging than any actual fighting. ("That thing is fighting in perfect sync. So are they, but it has more ways to strike.") He heard the flute noise and knew exactly what was making that thing so coordinated. Snapping his foot up, he caught the female assailant in the back of the leg.

And as soon as the music stopped all five of the wolves found more than enough openings to exploit. Now the monster's attacks were mindless, just blind rage. And each member of that five knew how to deal with blind rage.

The woman tried to hop to her feet but found herself entangled with Cheveyo's legs. "You little brat! Let me go!"

"Not a chance! I don't know how evil those guys are, but at least they aren't trying to kill me!" He knew that if he could disarm her of her flute…

A heel to the throat cut off any heroic thoughts in the head. Gasping for air he felt his lock on her legs slipping.

She pressed her lips against the flute and played furiously. The monster began to gain its coordination again, and that meant that the five fighters were forced back into dodging.

* * *

Conn mentally frowned as he had to shift from Crinos to Hispo to Lupus and back again and again so that he could avoid getting torn to shreds by the now focused thrashings of this monster. ("This is fookin pointless. We're never gonna kill this thing. So it's time ta go after the source.") When he was originally going to zip he zagged, twisting away from the tight battlefield that he and his pack mates were in. _("I'm going to go deal with the person controlling this thing!")_ He signaled through a series of simple body commands. It wasn't telepathy, but it was the next best thing. 

Heltra hissed in anger as she realized that one of the five had broken away from her pet and was coming after her. ("You think that you'll be able to take me down alone?") She kicked Cheveyo in the ribs again to stun him and then drew her dagger out of her belt. "Come and get me puppy…."

Conn slowed his charge…and started to move around her. In his current fully wolf form, he was faster but at the same time he lacked the brute force of Crinos form. ("I could switch…but something tells me that this perversion knows to strike when I'm doing so.") One wrong move and he'd be dead. There was no doubt in his mind that the dagger she held had something in it to cause grievous wounds to something supernatural.

The woman, who appeared attractive with black hair and dark eyes, licked one of her nails and then her lips as she watched him circle her slowly. "Well…aren't you going to try to save your friends?"

("Not likely witch. As long as you aren't directing it then the rest of the pack will tear that monster apart.")

"You think they're safe, don't you? Wrong…because my pet's very difficult to kill. In fact, it's nearly impossible to kill physically." She smiled calmly. "So I have the advantage. You may have incredible endurance, but you will still need to eventually rest."

("I gotta figure out…") Conn mentally frowned. ("That'll work…") He withdrew slowly, all the while shifting from Lupus back to Homid. Now that he was only a human wearing a tight green t-shirt and a green pair of shorts, he pointed at her. "Then we'll have a duel."

"A duel hmm?" Heltra glanced back at Cheveyo. ("If I set the right circumstances…") She coldly sneered. "Sure, let's play a little game. Winner takes all…literally." She motioned with her hand and a black mist curled around her arm, forming into a duel disk.

Conn looked at the still wheezing for air Cheveyo. "Hey kid, throw me a disk."

Cheveyo grabbed the duel disk out of his backpack and threw it to the man.

Conn caught it and attached it to his arm. After sliding his deck in he turned the device. "Duel!"

"Duel." Heltra snickered. "Let the battle begin."

Conn- 4000

Heltra- 4000

Heltra drew. "I'll begin with one monster face-down on the field. End turn." The card appeared in front of her and she licked her lips, as if savoring every moment.

Conn drew. ("She's trying to lure me into something.") He looked at his hand and rubbed his chin. ("All monsters huh?") "I summon Archfiend Soldier!" (1900/1500) A purple demon with ram horns appeared on the field. "Attack the set monster now!" His monster slashed into the set card…and was repelled.

Heltra smirked. Her monster was some kind of female plant. "You just attacked Prickle Fairy. (300/2000) When she is attacked the attacking monster switches into defense mode after damage calculation." Archfiend Soldier dropped to one knee.

Conn- 3900

Heltra- 4000

Conn glanced behind him nervously…and did a double-take as he actually saw Fire Claw trip, though the wolfess quickly regained her balance without taking any hits. ("Fire Claw lost her balance?") Looking back at Heltra, he growled deep in his throat. "End turn."

"Draw." Heltra looked at the card she had drawn and inserted it into her hand. "I summon Ultimate Insect Level 1 in defense mode." (0/0) An ugly little larva appeared on her field. "End turn."

Conn drew. ("Alright…Skull Archfiend of Lightning….but without my field magic card I'll have to pay life points for its effect.") "I summon another Archfiend Soldier into attack mode!" A new purple demon appeared next to the first. "Attack Ultimate Insect!" It leapt….and growled in surprise as Prickly Fairy's tentacles flipped up to block the attack. Snarling in rage it returned to Conn's field and switched into defense mode. "What?"

"The effect of Prickle Fairy prevents you from attacking insect monsters in play as long as it is face-up in play." Heltra waved a finger in the air chidingly. "And your pack mates are paying for your stupidity."

Conn glanced back and paled slightly as he watched Nikolai stumble while in Crinos form, nearly getting skewered by a spiked tentacle. ("Every life point I lose affects their strength levels…damn it…") "End turn."

Heltra drew. "During my standby phase the effect of Armed Insect Level 1 activates. By sending it to the graveyard I can special summon Ultimate Insect Level 3!" (1400/900) The larva grew in size and screeched. "Also, I set one monster face-down and end my turn."

Conn looked down at his deck. ("How about something other than a bloody monster please?") He drew. "The magic card Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards." He slid the top two cards off of his deck and added them to his hand. ("That's more like it.") "Field magic card! The Lair of Ten Thousand Demon Lords; Pandemonium!" All around them the forest changed into a hellish background. Giant bone spires rose up into the sky and demonic cackling could be heard somewhere in the background. "While this field is in play I don't have to pay life points for the effects of Archfiend monsters!"

Heltra scoffed. "Don't get cocky."

"I sacrifice one of my two Archfiend Soldiers for Skull Archfiend of Lightning!" One of the two demons disappeared and was replaced in a blast of lightning that shook the earth. It formed into a huge demon made up of just demon and muscle. (2500/1200) "I switch Archfiend Soldier into attack mode!" The purple demon stood up. "Skull Archfiend, Demon Thunder!" His huge demon roared and sprayed lightning out of its mouth, blowing Prickle Fairy apart.

"Prickly Fairy forces your monster into defense mode!" Heltra knew she could kill that monster next turn if it was in its weak defense mode.

Conn waved a finger in the air and a group of six different colored balls appeared next to him. "You triggered the effect of Skull Archfiend of Lightning. When this monster is targeted by an effect controlled by you one number is randomly selected between one and six. If that number is a one, three or six then your effect is negated." A fire lit up along the one ball and then traveled from ball to ball before stopping on three. "So my monster remains in attack mode."

Heltra growled. "The effect of Ultimate Insect Level 3 is that if it was special summoned through the effect of Ultimate Insect Level 1 then it will reduce the attack of all monsters you have in play by 300 points."

"That's fine. Go Archfiend Soldier! There's your target!" (1600/1500) The demon soldier slashed through the larva. "End turn."

Conn- 3800

Heltra- 3800

Heltra drew, grimacing as she heard her monster roar in pain. ("Unfortunately, the drain works both ways.") She looked at the drawn card. "This will put you in your place! Flip summon Man-Eater Bug!" (450/600) Her face-down monster flipped up to reveal an ugly brown cockroach. "This monster, when flipped, destroys one monster in play!" She pointed at the Skull Archfiend of Lightning.

Conn snapped his fingers. "Get it started…" The fire moved along the six balls, and stopped on a five. The Skull Archfiend of Lightning exploded into dust. "When an Archfiend is destroyed for a reason other than battle I may take one Archfiend monster of a lower level from my deck into my hand."

Heltra slid a card into her disk. "I activate the magic card Whistle of Insect Strength." Her Man-Eater Bug snarled and grew in size. "This card activates only when an insect in play destroys a monster through an effect. That insect gains the attack power of the monster it destroyed. At the end phase of the turn that monster will be destroyed." (2950/600) "Also, the monster in the graveyard that was destroyed through the effect is removed from play."

Conn gritted his teeth. ("Bloody 'ell…")

"Man-Eater Bug, attack now!" The insect tackled the Archfiend Soldier and both exploded into dust.

Conn- 2750

Heltra- 3800

"I'm not done yet!" Heltra held up a card. "Monster Reborn revives Prickle Fairy in defense mode." The female plant appeared on the field in a crouching position. "End turn."

Conn winced as he heard a cry of pain from behind him. Spinning around he saw one of the monster's tentacles slash along Nikolai's chest. ("NO!") Snapping his head around, he drew. "I summon Desrook Archfiend (1100/1800) in defense mode." A strange tower-like demon appeared on the field. "End turn."

Heltra drew. "Now I'll make sure your pack suffers for your foolish dueling. I summon Insect Knight (1900/1500) in attack mode." A cockroach in armor appeared on the field. It lifted its sword and chattered excitedly. "Now I play the magic card Magic Shard Excavation. This card lets me discard two cards to pick up one magic card from graveyard." She held up Monster Reborn. "And can you guess what I am reborning, little dog?"

"Archfiend Soldier…"

"Wrong. Ultimate Insect Level 3 is special summoned." The larva appeared on the field and screeched. "Insect Knight, attack now!" The knight slashed through the Desrook and blew it apart instantly. "Ultimate Insect, direct attack!" A spray of some green fluid hit Conn in the chest. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Conn- 1350

Heltra- 3800

Conn dropped to one knee and clutched as his chest. Then he glanced behind him, just in time to see Jill disappear under a mass of the monster. "NO!" He drew quickly. ("I need to inflict life point damage now!") "Premature Burial lets me revive one dead monster at the cost of 800 life points!"

Conn- 550

Heltra- 3800

Archfiend Soldier appeared and next to it appeared a monster wearing fleshy royal robes. "I normal summon Terrorking Archfiend!" (2000/1500)

"That won't get past Prickle Fairy…" Heltra started to smirk…

"Terrorking Archfiend, attack Prickle Fairy now! Locust Swarm!" The chest of the demon king opened and released a horde of demon insects that hit the plant and dissipated. "When Prickle Fairy's effect tries to switch Terrorking into defense his ability activates! Go Demon Roulette!" The fire snapped along the balls and stopped on a two. "That means your monster's effect is negated and it is destroyed!" Prickle Fairy exploded.

Heltra gasped. "Impossible…"

"Archfiend Soldier, Demon Sabre!" The purple demon slashed through Ultimate Insect Level 3.

Conn- 550

Heltra- 3300

Conn smirked slightly as he heard the monster screech in pain. "End turn."

Heltra drew. "Pot of Greed's ability lets me draw two cards." She looked at the drawn cards and sneered. "I sacrifice Insect Knight for Ultimate Insect Level 5!" (2300/900) A huge grayish bug appeared on the field. "Destroy Archfiend Soldier now!" It sprayed the purple demon with slime. Howling, the evil monster dissolved into a puddle.

Conn- 150

Heltra- 3300

Conn gasped, but didn't bother to look behind him. ("I have to win!") He drew. "I switch Terrorking Archfiend into defense mode and summon Vilepawn Archfiend in defense mode." (1200/200) A much smaller demon appeared on the field in a crouching position alongside its king. "End turn!"

Heltra drew. "During my standby phase Armed Insect Level 5 sends itself to the graveyard and special summons Armed Insect Level 7!" (2600/1200) The Insect broke away its grey shell, which was replaced by a huge colorful shell and wings. Howling, it looked down at the two Archfiends. "I summon Neo-Bug (1800/1500) in attack mode!" A huge green mantis appeared on the field. "Armed Insect's special ability reduces the attack and defense of all monsters on your field by 700!" (500/0) (1300/800) "Neo Bug, attack Vilepawn now!" The mantis slashed through the smaller demon easily.

Conn threw up his arms and braced himself. At least the damage was only affecting his body now.

"Armed Insect, Poison Rain!" The huge bug sprayed out a stream of purple liquid that dissolved the mighty king.

"Desrook Archfiend's hand ability lets me discard it to revive Terrorking!" Conn tossed a card from his hand and the king appeared in play in a crouching position again. (1300/800)

Heltra smirked calmly. "My pet is winning the fight. End turn."

Conn looked down at his deck and then drew. "I set one card face-down and summon Opticlops (1100/1000) in defense mode. End turn." A hulking Cyclops appeared on his field in a crouching position.

Heltra drew. "Neo Bug, attack Opticlops!" The mantis slashed through the monster easily. "Armed Insect, Poison Rain!" A stream hit the king and dissolved it again.

"I discard Desrook Archfiend to save my King!" Conn discarded his last Desrook and the king appeared on the field in a crouching position once more. (1300/800)

"I set one card face-down." Heltra sneered coldly. "End turn…"

* * *

Nikolai roared as loudly as he could, plunging into the mass of flesh that the creature wasto try and throw it off course. His claws dug in as tightly as they could, and he had to shut his eyes as horrible fluid sprayed right into his face. But he wouldn't give up. That thing had Jill pinned. 

Fong stood back…and closed his eyes. Cuts were all over his body, but none of them too grievous. ("This beast is far too strong to be defeated through force. There is a flaw, as there is in all things.") As he concentrated his muscles moved of their own accord, allowing his dark gray wolf body to dodge a wave of blind attacks by the monster. ("I must focus my energies…")

Fire Claw snarled, currently in Crinos form. She tore into the other of the creature and bit into the foul flesh as hard as she could.

* * *

Conn drew. "I activate Puppet Animation!" Archfiend Soldier appeared on the field. "This magic card special summons one monster from my graveyard to the field with zero attack points in attack mode!" (0/1500) 

"That won't be enough…." Heltra sneered…until she saw the look on Conn's face.

Rage burned in the man's green eyes. "Ah'm sendin yer arse back ta the abyss it was spawned from! I sacrifice Archfiend Soldier and Terrorking Archfiend to summon Maju Garzett!" Both of his monsters disappeared, replaced by a huge demon that was half feathers and half carapace. (0/0) It howled and began to drink in power from the graveyard. "When tribute summoned Maju Garzett's attack points go up by the original attack of the two monsters sacrifice for it!" (3200/0) "Attack now!" Maju Garzett lifted a claw up to slash through the Ultimate Insect.

"Reverse card open!" Heltra pointed at one of her cards. "By activating Dark Pollen Virus I can transform one Insect in play into a powerful bio-weapon. When the infected monster is destroyed as result of battle all trap cards in your deck and hand will be destroyed!"

"Trap card open!" Conn's face-down card flipped up and the trap card shattered. "Command of the Mighty activates when a level seven or higher monster is in play. It negates the activation of one card." Maju Garzett's claw slashed through the Insect. (3900/0)

Conn- 150

Heltra- 2800

Conn slid the last card in his hand into his disk. "I set one card face-down." The card shimmered into existence behind his demon. "End turn."

Heltra drew. And she started to laugh crazily. "All of your effort…and all for nothing! I summon Leghul!" (300/350) A centipede appeared on her field. "Now I use its effect to attack your life points directly!" The bug disappeared and then appeared right in front of Conn. "It's over!"

"Reveal Evil Barricade!" A huge explosion of black fire sprang up between the Irish man and the insect. "This trap card can only activate when I have a demon in play. All life point damage to me this turn is zero!" The fire died down.

Heltra growled and pointed at Neo Bug. "Defense mode." The mantis pulled its weapons into itself and crouched. "End turn!"

Conn drew. "Card Sweep activates! This magic card destroys one card in play when I have no other cards in my hand!" The face-down card on Heltra's field started to break.

"Reveal Swarm!" Heltra sneered as Leghul curled into itself. "This card activates when I have more insects in play then you have monsters. All monsters on my field go into defense mode and I special summon two insects with 500 or less attack points from my graveyard to the field in defense mode." She threw two cards down. "I summon Ultimate Insect Level 1 (0/0) and Man-Eater Bug (450/600) in defense mode."

Maju Garzett's claw dropped onto Leghul and destroyed it. "End turn."

Heltra drew. "I summon Construction Bug!" (100/100) A small ant with a construction hat on it appeared on the field. "This monster can be special summoned from my hand if I have no other cards. It lets me draw three cards and discard all magic and trap cards from the three." She drew three times and began to laugh rapidly. "Your Maju Garzett is about to meet its match!"

"That's a lie…" Conn pointed at her. "Maju Garzett has an attack score of 3900. He's too tough for your monsters."

Heltra raised her hand up. "I offer Construction Bug and Ultimate Insect Level 1 as sacrifices…" Both bugs disappeared. "Insect Queen, arise and show the truth!" (2200/2400) A giant hideous female insect appeared and screeched, the sound amplified by the buzzing of the other bugs in play. "For ever insect monster in play Insect Queen gains 200 attack points." (2800/2400)

"You're still 1100 points off from matching my monster…"

"I'm not done!" Heltra removed Man-Eater Bug from her disk. "By sacrificing one insect I can special summon Insect Veil to the field." (0/0) A huge bow-legged bug appeared on the field and latched onto the Insect Queen's back. "This monster equips to one monster I have in play. That monster gains 1000 attack points." (3600/2400) "Finally…I sacrifice Neo Bug so that Insect Queen can attack!" The huge bug bit down into the mantis and consumed it. (3400/2400)

"Are you crazy? Your monster will die." Conn started to order his monster to counter-attack…

"From my hand I activate the effect of Boost Bug! This monster can only activate when an insect in play battles with a monster that has less than 1000 more attack points that it does! All battle damage during this turn is negated and the offending monster is destroyed!" She pointed at Maju Garzett. "Insect Queen, attack!" The bulbous bug sprayed the demon with green fire that melted it down into soup. "End turn." Insect Queen lowered its abdomen to the graveyard and deposited an egg on the ground. (100/100) (3600/2400)

Conn looked down at his deck. ("There's nothing left I can do, is there? I can't even sacrifice myself ta save them. I'm sure this'll make a great story amongst my kindred…the guy who couldn't save his pack because he stunk…")

* * *

Nikolai howled in pain as the monster's claws dug deeper into his arms. ("I will die…but I will die with the song of battle on my lips!")

Fong took a deep breath…his hands started to lift upwards.

* * *

"No….don't give up!" Cheveyo leapt up from his position on the ground. "It's not over yet! Give it everything you have!"

Heltra smirked coldly at Conn. "You know the truth. Foolish dreams don't win wars…"

Conn clenched his fist, green eyes reflecting the mix of rage and hopelessness that was in his heart. "She's right…you're a child. You don't know what this war is like…"

"You're taking this too seriously…" Cheveyo frowned. "Isn't that what you told me before?"

"Taking it too seriously…" Conn started to slide the top card off of his deck. "He's right…I am taking this too seriously…"

"Your friends' lives are resting on your draw…" Heltra wouldn't let him forget so easily.

"No…" He finished the draw and held the card up in front of his face. "Even if I were to fall we could still win. I'm not the absolute win or lose factor…and besides, you've lost." He held the drawn card up into the air. "I activate Return to the Past! This magic card returns one monster from my graveyard to the field for one turn. That monster returns as it was before it left the field!" A glowing portal opened up in the sky above him.

"There's nothing you could summon that could defeat Insect Queen…"

"Maju Garzett!" Conn's mighty half and half demon lowered itself onto the field. (0/0) "Because of Return to the Past its attack score returns to what it was before it died!" (3900/0)

"That won't be enough to…"

"Maju Garzett, end this duel in one strike! Demon's Claw!" The demon charged…right past the Queen, its claw squashing the egg with one crashing punch.

Conn- 150

Heltra- 0

Heltra clutched at her chest and stumbled back in surprise. "No…"

* * *

Fong opened his palm and charged in towards the mass of moving tentacles and claws. ("I see the weakness.") He dove right into the mass, disappearing for a few moments. And the there was a loud slap of flesh on flesh.

Nikolai started to prepare himself for one attack…but no more attacks came. The whole monster shuddered…and then collapsed dead to the ground.

Fire Claw withdrew herself from the mass of monster flesh and limped over to where the thing had fallen on Jill. _("Jill…are you alright?")_

The creature's corpse was moved slightly and a very ragged-looking brown wolf pulled itself out of the mass. _("I've been better…")

* * *

_

Heltra clutched at her chest and cried out in pain. "Damn you…" Moments later she was dead on the ground.

Conn dropped to his butt and took a deep breath. "Well kid…welcome to what we need to fight."

"Can I please just not come with you?" Cheveyo sighed and sat down next to him.

Nikolai, still in the hulking Crinos form, limped up and glared at Conn. "Next time you plan on betting our lives…how about not cutting it so close?"

"What can I say?" Conn laid back and stretched. "I'm just not taking this seriously enough."

_To be continued…_

To Adriel: I already told you that Cheveyo's set of cards are one of the five warrior decks that use fusion.

To Seeker of the Soul: Well since LDD for the moment is done unless I decide to start a new arc, then yes. For now this is my writing focus. I need a change of characters for a little while anyway. BTW, yup. Werewolf.

To G.O.T. Nick: The rest of the Hidden Spirit pack cards will be unveiled slowly. Unlike the Cyber Shadows (which required showing a lot of the cards at once, since it is a fully original deck) I will handling the showing of the Hidden Spirit monsters differently. As for the plot, trust me it gets better.

To Rex: Hell, go ahead and jump to conclusions. BTW, in the last chapter of the Rival Schools Arc you mentioned my 'team'……what team?

To Raine: Stick with it. It'll make sense when question actually start getting answered.

To Wolfy: Indeed, lots more wolves.


	6. The Challenge of Heritage Part 1

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh or the World of Darkness.

* * *

_06/29/2025_

_Alright, so maybe I was wrong. These guys aren't quite as bad as I thought. Honestly, I didn't think that Conn was that bad to begin with. The other four scare me a little, but I wouldn't tell them that. Anyway, it looks like it's time to eat._

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost as always

* * *

_

Cheveyo dropped his journal into his backpack and looked up at the campfire. "So you're…Werewolves?"

"More or less. As a collective whole the species is called Uratha." Conn took a sip from his coffee. "And no, we aren't a bunch of disease carriers. You're either born with it or not born with it."

"And I'm one of you," Cheveyo looked down at the ground. "Lucky me…"

"Do not speak as if you are cursed." Nikolai sat down. "Many of us take pride in our heritage."

"Shut up Nikolai," Jill sat down next to Cheveyo, away from Conn and the Russian. "Not all of us are part of a stupid royal family that takes pride in being Uratha. Some of us were and still are business people who live in the modern world."

Nikolai eyed her darkly. "Watch your tongue woman, or else I'll…"

_("Watch your own tongue, Nikolai.")_ Fire Claw sat down next to Jill and growled.

Fong sat quietly and sipped his tea.

Cheveyo sighed. "Do tempers always run so high between you guys?"

Jill huffed and started to eat her food. "What temper? It isn't my fault that testosterone boy over there can't talk about his family heritage whenever someone…"

Conn swigged down the rest of his coffee. "People!" Everyone turned to look at him. "Are we or are we not supposed to explain to the…I mean Cheveyo, about his heritage?"

"Seriously, I'd love to get an explanation that is more than just "We are the Uratha," Cheveyo dead-panned.

Fong cleared his throat. "We cannot tell you more because we do not know if you are worthy or not yet. You see, dear boy, there is a test that you must go through before we can find out whether you possess the skill to join the Uratha Nation."

"A test? Written or multiple choice?" Only Conn chuckled at that. "Okay, seriously…what?"

"It is a battle against a spirit who will test your skill." Fong looked intently into the fire. "The place for the battle is near here. Tomorrow morning you shall battle against the spirit."

"You don't mean fight…do you?" Cheveyo didn't like the idea of physically fighting anything.

"No, it will be a more one on one form of fighting. A duel." Fong sighed. "You must win. If you lose then you will never leave the battlefield. So do not fall to this enemy."

Cheveyo rubbed his eyes. "A duel to the death?"

"No." Fong smiled a little. "Your opponent won't be alive."

* * *

Cheveyo went through each card of his deck with appraising care. If he screwed up even one play then he might die. ("I can't let that happen if I can avoid it.") He held up Wendigo Ahroun and smiled slightly. "Such a useful card…" 

"Hey Cheveyo," Conn sat down next to the boy and looked at all of the laid out cards. "Lookin over your deck?"

"Yeah…I have to make sure that I can win tommorow." Cheveyo snapped his fingers and pulled a small box out of his backpack. Looking at it, he popped it open and withdrew a few random cards from the stack. "It worked last time…"

"What worked last time?"

"These cards I have…the ones that are so strange…" Looking each of the cards over, Cheveyo slid them into his deck and started making adjustments.

Conn chuckled. "Hey kid…good luck. I got a feeling that you'll need it to take down the guardian."

"What kind of deck does it use?" Cheveyo looked up from his deck and grinned. If he could figure out what deck type this opponent used then he'd work this out much better.

"I don't know. They say the deck type of the guardian changes for each opponent."

Cheveyo face-fell.

* * *

The sun rose up slowly into the sky… 

And Cheveyo stood in front of a cave that was deep in the forest. "So this is it?"

"That's right," Fong looked into the darkness and shivered. "Good luck boy. You'll need it."

Cheveyo frowned and walked into the cave without looking back. ("I will find my mother…and I'll go through hell to do it, if need be.")

* * *

"So can he defeat the guardian?" Conn looked into the cave and shuddered. He remembered how difficult it was to win. 

"No." Fong sighed. "We have most likely sent him to his death. He doesn't even understand how to transform yet, and still we have sent him to face the guardian."

* * *

_In the time before time, this sundered world was whole. The Shadow Realm and the material world were one. And then the barrier became frail and weak. Spirits flowed into this world and made slaves of creatures of flesh._

Cheveyo stared at the writing on the wall for a few moments…and then kept walking. ("The Shadow Realm? What's that?") As he walked farther down the cavern he came upon a message that hovered in the air, made up of phantom flames.

_There are many tribes of the wolves...of the Uratha. Soon the bodies rose too high, and the world was plunged into a state of war that it could not get out of. Until a mighty being arose from the darkness and forced the leaders of every race and nation to form truces and end their hatred. Its name was simply known as the Dark Halo. With its great power it opened the Shadow Realm and brought forth a new form of doing battle. Dueling was born…_

Cheveyo kept walking, his eyes set forward. There was light in the distance…and that meant that his destination was nearly found. Right before he stepped through the small doorway opening at the end of the tunnel, a message lit up in front of him in flaming red letters.

_Perhaps this is too short of a history for you, dear whelp? Well if you wish to learn more, then come forwards and face me. I am the keeper of memories, the vanguard of song and story, and the protector of that which must be earned. So step inside and face me. Arm your cards…_

As he walked into the room, he heard a calm voice finish the sentence, "And duel." A phantasmal man with long brown hair stood at the far end of a cold damp cavern. Behind him was a large stone door. "Greetings whelp. Let us duel now. The closer you get to winning, the more you shall learn. But…" Waving his hand, he motioned to the numerous skeletons frozen in the walls.

Cheveyo- 4000

Guardian- 4000

The Guardian waved its hand and a set of five huge glowing blue cards appeared behind him. Then a sixth appeared amongst the rest. "Duel begin!" One of the cards flipped over. "I activate Painful Persecution. This card will let me select five random cards from my deck and then four of the chosen five will be randomly sent to my graveyard. The last card will go to my hand."

Cheveyo looked down at his hand. ("I'm still safe…")

One of Guardian's cards flipped over to reveal a golden idol that however in the air. "I summon Sacrifice Idol (900/1400) in attack mode. Then I play the magic card Tribute Doll." The idol exploded into dust. "This magic card lets me sacrifice a monster on my field to special summon a level seven monster from my hand to the field."

Wind blew across the field and then began to conform to one point in front of the Guardian. As the wind died down a green symbol-covered spirit appeared on the field. "I summon the God of Wind; Kazejin (2400/2200) in attack mode."

Cheveyo smiled slightly. "But now you only have three cards in your hand."

"Sacrifice Idol, when sacrificed to the effect of a magic card, lets me draw three cards." Three new cards flashed in next to the three behind the Guardian. "And then I set three cards face-down. End turn." Three cards appeared behind Kazejin.

"Draw." Cheveyo drew and looked at the cards in his hand again. ("This changes things…") "I set one monster face-down in defense mode and two cards face-down. End turn."

The Guardian lifted up one hand and a card flashed in next to the three in its 'hand'. "I summon Primordial Ooze." (1000/1100) A blob of green slime appeared on the field. "By discarding one card from my hand I can activate its special ability. It will now be destroyed and I'll special summon a water attribute monster from my graveyard to the field." The blob disappeared and was replaced by a spectral being made of water. "God of Water; Suijin (2500/2400) in attack mode. By the effect of Primordial Ooze it cannot attack, but that doesn't mean I can't damage your life points." One of his three set cards flipped up. "Final Attack Orders is a continuous trap card that forces all monsters into attack mode. That means your face-down defender will go into attack mode."

"Wrong! Mystical Space Typhoon!" One of Cheveyo's two set cards flipped up. "This card will destroy your trap card and prevent its effect from activating!"

"Reverse card open." One of the Guardian's remaining two hand cards disappeared. "By discarding a magic card from my hand I can activate Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell. This counter trap will negate a magic card and prevent the owner from using that magic card again for the rest of the duel." Cheveyo's Mystical Space Typhoon card shimmered out of existence.

Cheveyo gasped as his set monster turned into a sugar glider that squeaked. "Nimble Momonga (1000/100) is forced into attack mode…."

"Kazejin…" The Wind God's cheeks filled with air. "Storm Gust." It released a blast of wind that slammed into the rodent and blew it apart.

Cheveyo- 2600

Guardian- 4000

"Nimble Momonga's special ability triggers when it is destroyed as a result of battle!" Cheveyo slid the monster card into his graveyard. "I gain 1000 life points and as many Nimble Momongas as I can summon are special summoned from my deck!" Two more sugar gliders appeared on the field.

Cheveyo- 3600

Guardian- 4000

The Guardian smirked calmly. "End turn."

Cheveyo looked down at his deck and then at the two Gods in play. "Draw!" He glanced at the new card and started to chuckle. "You want to summon one of your high level monsters? Then I'll summon one of my own!" He pointed at his two Nimble Momongas. "I sacrifice both of my monsters to summon Behemoth the King of all Animals!" (2700/1500) A huge purple and blue mixture of bull and lion appeared on his field. It roared so loudly that the cavern shook. "Also, when I tribute summon for this monster I can pick up beast monsters from my graveyard to the number of monsters sacrificed to summon this monster." He held up two of the Nimble Momongas. "Behemoth, attack Suijin now! Godly Charge!" Snarling, the mighty king beast charged towards the water god.

"Suijin's special ability activates now! Water Wall!" A wall of water shot up and out, hitting Behemoth and pushing it back to Cheveyo's field. "Suijin's special ability allows it to once per game negate all damage from one attack."

Cheveyo gasped in surprise. "End…turn."

A card shimmered into existence behind the Guardian. "I activate the magic card Monster Reborn and return one of the monsters I sent to my graveyard during my first turn to the field. Kaiser Seahorse…" A blue knight appeared on the field. "This monster counts as two sacrifices when used to summon a light attribute monster." It disappeared. "Sanga of the Thunder!" A spectral form of a hovering gold and red torso appeared on the field, electricity crackling along its form. (2600/2200) "However, because of the attack power your monster possesses I have to end my turn."

Cheveyo drew. ("Now he has three monsters with over 2000 attack points. Also, each of these monsters can damage me if I summon anything, since defense mode is not an option. "Behemoth, attack Sanga!" The king charged….and was deflected by a wall of electricity. "End turn."

("I have only one more turn of defense before the abilities of my three monsters will be useless.") A card shimmered into existence behind the Guardian. "I play Different Dimension Capsule. This magic card lets me select one card from my deck and place it into a pocket of time two turns from now. At that time the selected card enters my hand. End turn."

Cheveyo drew. "I set one card face-down and attack with Behemoth!" The king charged and was deflected by a wall of wind from Kazejin. "And that is your last defense. End turn."

The Guardian lifted its hand up…and a card shimmered into existence behind it. "Perhaps it is….perhaps it isn't. Because now I summon a monster so powerful that it requires three high level sacrifices to summon."

("A monster that requires three sacrifices to summon?") Cheveyo frowned. ("Behemoth is the absolute strongest monster in my deck. If it isn't enough then I'm done for…") He looked at his set card. ("But with my set card I have a chance of holding against whatever he will summon.")

"The power of the elements of the storm." Guardian lifted its hand up and the three monsters on its field faded. "Gate Guardian (3750/3400) now comes to destroy you!" A huge composite of the three elemental gods appeared on the field and roared. "Attack Behemoth now, Raging Thunder Wave!" A whirlpool of electric energy exploded from its body and launched towards the king of beasts.

"Reverse card open!" Cheveyo's hope card flipped up. "The continuous trap card Strength of the Beast increases the attack of all beast monsters in play by 700 for every 1000 life points I pay!"

"Reverse card open!" The Guardian's face-down card flipped up. "And I was waiting for you to do that! Seven Tools of the Bandit requires that I pay 1000 life points. But in return I can negate and destroy one trap." Strength of the Beast exploded into dust.

Cheveyo squeezed his eyes shut as the wave enveloped Behemoth and destroyed it instantly. "No…Behemoth…"

Cheveyo- 2550

Guardian- 3000

"I see now that you are not ready to learn. And for your mistake of coming too soon, you shall meet death. I am the Guardian of Memories, and to learn my secrets you must earn them through battle." The Guardian pointed at Cheveyo. "Death awaits the foolish. End turn."

Cheveyo clenched his fist. ("There is a chance…there is always a chance!") His eyes met the Guardian's. "I will learn where my mother is! I will not lose! It's my turn now, draw!"

_To be continued…_

_Hey ladies and gentlemen, Cheveyo here. So this Guardian of Memories thinks he can get in the way of me finding my mother? Well then he's dead wrong! It's time to bring out the Hidden Spirits! Go Wendigo Ahroun!_

_Next Episode: The Challenge of Heritage Part 2 _

To Gryphinwyrm: I might introduce Mummies in this storyline, and if I do then Imhotep will be in the lead.

To Seeker of the Soul: Thanks, but hopefully I won't need good luck. This story should sell itself….or at least one can hope.

To Rex: This story seems what? Come on, out with it.

To john: I doubt it. He has nothing to do with these guys at all, except for one connection that every supernatural species shares.

To Justin: Thanks for the submission. You never know when it could come in handy to have a Wyrm-spawn lying around.

To Luna's Meow: Naw, people are skeptical as a whole. I understand that too.

To G.O.T. Nick: Oh yes he duels. Though his dueling deck is kind of out of character for what you might be thinking of him.

To LucienShadowMaster: Yes there will be more Hidden Spirit Totems depicting more than just wolves. But no, the Hidden Spirits cards are all Werewolves. Also, yes there will be more LDD. But I want to get farther in this, since a key plot point of the LDD storyline will be covered in this story.

To Just a Dude: Look up.


	7. The Challenge of Heritage Part 2

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh or the World of Darkness.

* * *

_6/30/2025_

_The Guardian of Memories…I can't lose to him or I'll die. But more importantly, I'll never learn where my mother is. The strongest monster my deck has is Behemoth the King of all Animals with an attack strength of 2700. But the Guardian has a monster called Gate Guardian in play with attack strength of 3750. Not just that, but he negated the only way I have to make my monsters stronger. But I won't give up yet! I'll figure out a way to win this duel!_

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost as always

* * *

_

Fong closed his eyes and frowned. "A force of great strength has been summoned. The boy will find himself hard-pressed to win now."

Nikolai had his eyes looking out into the distance quietly. "We must be focused. The Perversions of life may attack at any moment."

Jill continued to work with her PDA.

Conn took a deep sip of a flask of brandy and sighed. "Bloody 'ell, why'd we send the boy in there if we knew he'd be outmatched?"

"Because time is of the essence. To stop that which is our purpose, we must make sure that the boy is ready. Because there will be so much danger soon…" Fong closed his eyes and meditated, while everyone was staring at him like he was insane.

* * *

Sweat slid down Cheveyo's face, or maybe it was the water from the attack of Gate Guardian. Whatever it was, he knew that he was going to have to do his best to win or else a little water would be the least of his problems. Glancing at the drawn card, he pointed at his set card. "I activate Reload! This quickplay magic card lets me shuffle my hand into my deck and draw an equal number of cards!"

He shuffled seven cards into his deck and drew seven. Fanning out the cards he smirked. "Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards." A smiling green jar appeared on his field and exploded when he removed the top two cards off of his deck.

The Guardian of Memories frowned. "No card you possess can match the strength of Gate Guardian."

"Maybe…but I can still brace myself against the damage that is coming!" Cheveyo slapped a card down. "I summon Hidden Spirit-Wendigo Ahroun (1900/1700) in attack mode!" A taller and bigger version of Cheveyo wearing the clothing of a Native American warrior appeared on the field. Lifting its spear, the warrior looked at the Gate Guardian without fear.

"That will not brace you against the rage of the elements."

"Not alone…" Cheveyo opened his field magic card slot. "Field magic card Moonlight Caern activates!" All around them huge stones rose up with symbols all over them. And then one after another the stones lit up with light. "This field card activates the effect of my monster." Wendigo Ahroun growled, its muscles bulging and fur sprouting from it as it turned into a huge humanoid wolf with black fur. "When Moonlight Caern is in play he turns into a beast warrior and gains 1000 attack points!" (2900/1700) "Also, I set one card face-down and end my turn!" As the card appeared on his field Cheveyo took a deep breath. ("I'm sorry to send you out to die, but I have to win this duel.")

A card appeared behind the Guardian. And then another card appeared. "The effect of Different Dimension Capsule teleports the chosen card into my hand." He snapped his hand out and one of the two cards flipped around. "I activate Bait Doll! This trap card forces one face-down card in play to activate!"

Cheveyo's face-down card flipped up and a glowing circle appeared around the Wendigo Ahroun. "Soul Circle sends Wendigo Ahroun back into my deck and forces me to special summon a level four monster to the field from my deck." He fanned out his deck and slid Wendigo Ahroun into it. ("So much for my buffer…") "I special summon Giant Rat (1400/1450) into attack mode!" A giant grey rat appeared on the field and chattered.

"Gate Guardian, Raging Thunder Wave!" The composite god unleashed a vortex of energy that slammed into the rat and blew it apart.

Cheveyo threw up his arms and screamed as electricity and icy biting cold burned into his body.

Cheveyo- 250

Guardian- 3000

The Guardian coldly watched as Cheveyo collapsed face-first to the ground. "End turn."

Cheveyo was barely breathing now…he was so cold….so cold….

* * *

"_DAD! Slow down!"_

"_I'll be damned if I wind up arrested because of a stupid park rule I didn't know about!"_

("Where am I?") Cheveyo looked around in confusion. ("And where's…my duel?")

"_GAH! DAD!"_

"_Quiet Ichigo! I can't let the nice Policemen arrest me."_

("Ichigo?") Cheveyo looked down…and blinked in surprise at what he saw. There was a brown-haired boy sitting in the back of a car that was barreling down a forest road at incredible speeds. "Wow…who are you?"

_("Huh? Ummm…why is there a voice in my head?") The boy looked around in confusion, and then looked up and saw Cheveyo. ("GHOST!")_

Cheveyo winced and waved his hands frantically. "Wait! I'm not a ghost…I don't think."

_Ichigo looked up at the red-skinned boy and rubbed his eyes a couple of times. ("You look like a ghost to me.")_

"Once again, I don't think I am a ghost. I was dueling…"

_("Did you stay dueling?") Ichigo's eyes got big and a look like a puppy begging flashed in Cheveyo's head. ("I want to duel! Anything other than this crazy family vacation with my dad!")_

Cheveyo shook his head vehemently. "You don't want to duel against who I'm taking on. He's way too powerful."

_("Too powerful?") Ichigo rubbed a finger under his nose. ("There's no such thing. I can defeat even the most powerful opponent with my mighty Cyber Shadows.")_

"Cyber Shadows?" Cheveyo blinked in surprise. "Cyber Shadow…what's that?" An image of a group of dark-clothed warriors appeared in his mind. "Interesting…but they don't look too tough."

_("Ah, but therein lies the true strength of the Cyber Shadows.") An image appeared between the two of them. ("The power of Polymerization.")_

"Polymerization? The power of fusion?" Cheveyo rubbed at his chin. "But…there are no two monsters I know of in my deck that defeat something like Gate Guardian."

_Ichigo grinned. ("Maybe so, but I have a monster capable of taking down any monster. Lord of Knives.")_

"What is Lord of Knives?"

_("A three-way fusion capable of destroying any monster of my choice.")_

"There is such a thing as three-way fusions?" Cheveyo's eyes widened. "But…what can fuse together in my deck that could defeat…"

_Ichigo shrugged innocently. ("Hey, I'm just telling you what my deck can do best. It isn't for everyone.")_

Cheveyo felt light-headed. "I….thank you for your advice. I hope you the best of luck with your family trip Ichigo."

_("Not a problem at all. What's your name anyway?")_

"Cheveyo."

* * *

Cheveyo's eyes shot open and he stumbled to his feet. "I'm not done yet! Giant Rat's special ability lets me special summon an earth monster with 1500 attack points or less from my deck to the field when it is destroyed as a result of battle!" He grabbed a card out of his deck and threw it down. "I special summon Hidden Spirit-Silver Fang Philodox (1300/800) in attack mode!" A rough warrior holding a heavy short sword appeared on the field, it looking just like Nikolai.

Guardian sneered. "You can't afford another 'buffer' against my attacks."

Cheveyo drew. "First I play Heavy Storm!" An explosion of wind destroyed Final Attack Orders instantly. "And then I set two cards face-down on the field." Two cards shimmered into existence in front of him. "Also, I set one card face-down on the field. Then I play Card of Sanctity. Now we both draw until we are holding six cards in our hand." Both of them drew five cards.

He looked all of the cards over and blinked in surprise. ("Ichigo…you're right.") "I play the magic card Fusion Sage. This card lets me search my deck for one Polymerization card." He removed his deck from its slot and fanned it out. Sliding the card into his hand, he held it up to show to the Guardian and slid his deck back into place. "Now I play Polymerization to fuse Hidden Spirit-Wendigo Ahroun and Silver Fang Philodox together to summon Hidden Spirit-Judgment Warrior!" (2000/1800) A warrior in silver clothing appeared on the field, a silver spear held in one hand. It opened its blue eyes and slammed the butt of its spear into the ground.

The Guardian's eyes widened slightly. ("Silver Fang?")

Cheveyo held up a card. "This card is the end of Gate Guardian." He flipped it over. "Penumbral Illusion!" The card appeared on the field and started to shimmer. "This continuous magic card lets me select one monster in play during my main phase. I discard one monster from my hand!" He slid a card into his graveyard. "The monster I discard drains its attack power from your monster's attack points!" (1600/600) "Pitch-Black Werewolf's attack is deducted from the attack of Gate Guardian!" A wave of glowing energy flowed out of the card and hit the god. (2150/3400)

Judgment Warrior exploded in size as it shifted into a giant silver and black furred humanoid wolf. (3000/1800) "Attack now!" It launched forwards and stabbed its spear right into the body of Gate Guardian. "Your mighty monster has been defeated!" Gate Guardian exploded into dust.

Cheveyo- 250

Guardian- 2150

Guardian didn't look that surprised.

Cheveyo slid two cards into his disk, filling up all of his magic and trap zones. "I set two cards face-down and then flip up Mirage of Nightmare! End turn!"

A card appeared behind Guardian. "You are impressive indeed. However…" One of the seven cards flipped over.

Cheveyo drew four cards off of his deck. "Mirage of Nightmare activates during your standby phase and lets me draw four cards!"

"…I activate Dark Element! By paying half of my life points when Gate Guardian is in the graveyard I can special summon Dark Guardian (3800/3500) to the field!" A huge spider-legged warrior holding an axe in one hand appeared on the field and started to let out a rumbling laughter.

Cheveyo- 250

Guardian- 1075

Cheveyo paled, while Judgment Warrior growled darkly.

Guardian pointed at the fusion. "End this now! Dark Shockwave!" Dark Guardian lifted its axe and brought it crashing down into the warrior, blowing it apart. "And you lose."

Cheveyo- 1450

Guardian- 1075

Cheveyo pointed at his field, which only had two set magic/trap cards on it. "The effect of Emergency Provisions let me sacrifice Mirage of Nightmare and Penumbral Illusion to increase my life points by 2000."

Guardian snapped its fingers and two cards from the six behind it flipped over. "I activate Nobleman of Crossout first, which will remove your set monster from play!" The set monster faded away. "And then I normal summon Nightmare Eye." (250/250) A single red eye appeared on the field next to Dark Guardian. "This monster cannot be attacked as long as I have another monster in play. Also, when you try to target any monster on my field with an effect that isn't Nightmare Eye that card is destroyed. Finally, I set three cards face-down and end my turn."

Cheveyo drew and looked out at the still laughing Dark Guardian. ("I'll give you something to laugh about, you ass.") He pointed at one of his two set cards. "I activate the power of Pack Totem. This magic card lets me search my deck for one Hidden Spirit card and add it to my hand." He removed his deck, fanned it out, and then found the card he was looking for. Adding it to his hand he slammed his deck back into place. "Then I activate my other face-down card! Warrior Returning Alive returns one warrior from my graveyard to my hand!" He held up Wendigo Ahroun and added it to his hand. "Alright, I set two cards face-down on the field and summon Hidden Spirit Totem-Owl (300/500) in defense mode!" A spectral owl with numerous golden symbols etched into its feathers appeared on the field. "End turn!"

A card appeared behind Guardian. "You're nearly finished. Reveal Call of the Haunted!" One of his three set cards flipped up. "This card special summons one monster from my graveyard! Return Gate Guardian!" (3750/3400) The huge composite god appeared alongside its dark half. "You're at the end of your line now! Dark Guardian, attack with Dark Shockwave!" The spider-legged monster lifted its axe and brought it flying down towards the little bird.

"Reveal Negate Attack!" One of Cheveyo's set cards flipped up and Dark Guardian froze in its tracks. "This trap card negates your attack and ends your battle phase!"

"Oh really?" One of Guardian's face-down cards flipped up. "And I reveal the magic card Sneak Attack from the Darkness. Now my monsters get another battle phase! So first I set one card face-down on the field and then I attack your monster with Dark Guardian!"

"Reveal Spirit Sacrifice!" The owl spirit exploded and a wall of white mist lifted up between the two fields. "This card lets me sacrifice a Hidden Spirit Totem in play to negate your attack and end your battle phase!"

Guardian grimaced. "End turn then."

Cheveyo reached his hand into the graveyard of his disk. "When Hidden Spirit Totem-Owl is sent to the graveyard from the field I may add one Hidden Spirit monster and one Polymerization card from my graveyard to my hand!" He held up Silver Fang Philodox and Polymerization right before adding them to his hand. Then he looked down at his deck. "I draw…" He slid the top card off of his deck and looked at it. ("This card might work.") He threw it down. "I summon Hidden Spirit-Fianna Galliard!" (1000/1000)

In a flash of light a slim man holding a heavy-looking claymore appeared on the field and started to chuckle. It looked just like Conn. "When this monster is summoned and I have no cards in play I may activate one of three effects."

"But you have Moonlight Caern in play…"

"Moonlight Caern is excluded according to this monster's effect. When Fianna Galliard is summoned and there are no other cards on my field I may activate one of three effects. The effect I choose to activate is the one that lets me draw two cards." Cheveyo slid two cards off of his deck, looked at them, and then nodded. "I special summon Hidden Spirit Totem-Falcon (1300/1200) to the field!" A spectral falcon with glowing silver symbols all over its feathers appeared on the field alongside Fianna Galliard. "While this monster is in play if a Hidden Spirit monster is sent to the graveyard then I can either draw one card or gain 1000 life points."

"It's a shame that those monsters must return to your hand at the end of the turn, or else you might actually be able to make use of those effects. Unless you plan on sacrificing your Hidden Spirit monsters by throwing them at my monsters, then you are wasting your time." The Guardian of Memories let the cold winds of the chamber whip across it. It felt no remorse for the weak. "The weak cannot learn my secrets."

"I will find out that I want to know." Cheveyo looked down at his hand and then at his field. ("But the thing is…")

_("A three-way fusion capable of destroying any monster of my choice.")_

His eyes widened. ("A three-way fusion…")

"Give it up. I not only have the mighty Dark Guardian in play, but I also have the all-powerful Gate Guardian in play as well. You are out of options." The Guardian of Memories sneered. "Give in to the cold despair of this place. For you were never ready to face me."

"You're wrong." Cheveyo felt the cold bite into his skin, and yet he did not flinch. "I will not back down. What I will do though is fight you tooth and nail. No matter what you think, I won't give up!" He held a card up into the air. "The power that you spoke of Ichigo. Let it work for me! Go Polymerization!" A swirling vortex appeared in the air above him. "I fuse Wendigo Ahroun, Silver Fang Philodox, and Fianna Galliard together…" The two other Hidden Spirit monsters appeared alongside their comrade. "Combine your powers! Bring out a power capable of facing this spirit!"

All three of the warriors nodded to each other and lifted up into the air, disappearing into the vortex. Light shined down across the dark cavern, lighting it up with warmth that penetrated deep into Cheveyo's bones and gave him the strength to continue.

The monster that lowered onto the field was a red/silver/black-haired warrior wearing silver ribbed armor. In one hand rested a pulsing silver spear, and in the other rested a heavy silver sword. Strapped to its back was a claymore that looked nearly impossible to wield. "I have summoned Hidden Spirit-Champion of Luna!" (2800/2800)

The warrior's eyes were covered by a silver mask. It threw back its head and howled in rage. Its muscles bulged huge as it changed, red/silver/black fur exploding out of its body as it turned into a huge humanoid wolf. (3800/2800)

"A 3800 monster?" The Guardian seemed surprised by this.

"That's right." Cheveyo clenched his fist and held it up in front of him. "I will find out what I want to know! And you won't stop me! Not you and not anyone!"

_To be continued…_

_Cheveyo here. So I've summoned a monster capable of matching the Guardian of Memory's Dark Guardian. But can Champion of Luna get the job done? I can't say for sure, but trust that I'll do everything within my power to make sure it happens!_

_Next Episode: The Challenge of Heritage Part 3 _

To Seeker of the Soul: Yeah, it always is impressive. It's more impressive when someone can get Gate Guardian and Dark Guardian out though. Now though Cheveyo has brought out a monster inspired by Ichigo. So let's see which monsters are the strongest, shall we?

To Raine: Thanks. I'm currently experimenting to see what new things I can introduce to my stories to make them more interesting.

To Gryphinwyrm: Yeah, but I put Nimble Momongas into Cheveyo's deck mostly for situations like what happened before with Behemoth.

To Rex: I still have my eye on you, but for now I'll forgive your semi-mockery of me. :P


	8. The Challenge of Heritage Part 3

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh or the World of Darkness.

* * *

_06/30/2025_

_The Champion of Luna…it has to work. This monster is the strongest creature I've ever been able to summon. It has to beat Dark Guardian. It has to._

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost as always

* * *

_

Cheveyo pointed at the spectral falcon on his field. "I activate the effect of Hidden Spirit Totem-Falcon to draw a card for every Hidden Spirit monster is sent to the graveyard." He drew two cards. "And finally, I activate the final effect of the Totem to gain 1000 life points as well."

Cheveyo- 2450

Guardian- 1075

The Guardian started to laugh. "It's pitiful…you think that monster can match my creatures?"

"Champion of Luna, attack Gate Guardian!" The beast warrior howled in rage and charged towards the composite god.

"Reveal A Hero Emerges!" The Guardian's single card in its 'hand' appeared on the field. "I special summon Kazejin (2400/2200) to the field!" A new god of wind appeared on the field. "And then I activate the effect of Kazejin! Direction Squall Barricade!" A wall of wind launched up and stopped the Champion of Luna in mid-attack, forcing it back to Cheveyo's field.

Cheveyo grimaced and fanned out his four cards. "I set these four cards face-down on the field. At the end phase of this turn Hidden Spirit Totem-Falcon returns to my hand." The spectral bird disappeared and he picked the card up off of his disk. "End turn."

A card appeared behind the Guardian. "Now you are at your end. Dark Guardian, Dark Shockwave!" The huge Guardian hefted it axe and brought it hurtling towards Cheveyo's fusion. "This is the end, because Dark Guardian cannot be destroyed as a result of battle! That means your monster is destroyed!"

Cheveyo slammed the card in his hand into his graveyard. "I discard one card from my hand to activate Champion of Luna's special ability! Now for this fight it cannot be destroyed in battle with a monster that has the same attack at it does!" The werewolf threw up its spear and caught the huge axe. Both monsters struggled and then broke away from each other.

The Guardian clenched its fist. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Cheveyo drew. "Champion, attack…"

"Reveal Provocation!" One of the Guardian's two set cards flipped up. "This trap forces all attack mode monsters on your field to attack one of my monsters!" Dark Guardian started to laugh louder.

Champion of Luna snarled behind its silver mask and launched forwards, ready to try and suicide itself into its enemy.

Cheveyo paled and slid the drawn card into his graveyard. "I discard Dark Gray to negate the battle damage." Both mighty monsters clashed and then returned to their respective fields.

The Guardian of Memories sneered. "Take a look at the situation now. Every turn you must discard a card from your hand to keep your monster alive, and it can do nothing but attack my Dark Guardian every turn."

Cheveyo growled. "End turn."

A card appeared behind the Guardian. "Dark Guardian, attack now!" The monster drove its axe downwards towards the Champion.

"Champion of Luna special ability activates! I send a card from my field to the graveyard to make my monster impossible to destroy in battle with a monster of equal attack power!" Both monsters clashed, sparks raining down over the field and then they returned to their fields. One of Cheveyo's set cards disappeared.

Guardian smirked. "Reverse card open! I activate my continuous trap card Destiny Battle!" Kazejin exploded into dust. "By sacrificing one monster on my field I can force the highest attack monsters on both of our fields to battle!" Dark Guardian drove forwards again and its axe hurtled down towards the Champion of Luna again. "You're finished!"

Cheveyo snarled and another of his set cards disappeared. Both monsters slammed into each other and broke off.

Guardian smirked. "End turn!"

Cheveyo drew and the Champion of Luna charged towards the Dark Guardian. "I discard Nimble Momonga!" Both monsters clashed once more and broke away. "I can keep this going as long as you can!"

"No you can't! Reveal One on One Combat!" The Guardian's set card flipped up. "Now the most powerful monsters on our field will now do battle!" Both monsters skidded back and then charged towards each other again. They clashed once more and were both blown back by the force of their strikes.

Cheveyo looked at his last card. ("If I activate it then I'll be able to buy myself some time. But if he attacks…") "Reverse card open!" His face-down card flipped up. "Penumbral Gateway is a magic card that activates when there is a Hidden Spirit monster in play that has 2000 or more attack points." The card began to glow. Champion of Luna faded away. "This card activates and removes the monster from play. Now I pick up a Hidden Spirit monster from my graveyard, and then I take one magic card from my graveyard and place it into my deck. When this card is removed from play the removed from play monster is special summoned to the field!"

He slapped the picked up monster down. "I summon Hidden Spirit-Fianna Galliard in defense mode!" (1000/1000) The monster that resembled Conn appeared on the field in a crouching position. "When this monster is summoned and there are no other cards in play on my field I may activate one of three effects. Moonlight Caern does not count, and that's good because I can only activate the third effect if it is in play! Now I activate one magic card from my deck!" He held up Pot of Greed. "So I draw two cards!" Sliding two cards off of his deck he watched as the smiling green card faded away and Champion of Luna reappeared on the field. "End turn!"

A card appeared behind Guardian. "You won't be able to keep yourself alive for much longer! I play my Pot of Greed!" The single card split into two cards. "Then I discard a card from my hand to activate the equipment magic card Control Thoughts! This card forces one monster in play to obey me!" Lightning flashed out of the card and struck the Champion of Luna. "Heed my orders!"

Cheveyo smiled slightly. "Are you so sure?"

"What?"

The Champion of Luna howled and flexed its muscles, the electrical bonds shattering. "Champion of Luna, thanks to its parts from Silver Fang Philodox, cannot be taken control of."

"Dark Guardian, attack now!" The huge monster drove its axe down towards the wolf warrior.

Cheveyo discarded a card from his hand. "Champion of Luna's special ability lets it withstand the fight!" Both monsters clashed and then broke away.

"Gate Guardian!" The composite god released a wave of energy that slammed into Fianna Galliard and blew it apart. "And now I finish you off with the effect of Destiny Battle!" Gate Guardian exploded. "Attack Champion of Luna now!" Dark Guardian roared in rage and charged, slamming into its enemy again.

"I discard!" Cheveyo slammed the last card in his hand into his graveyard and both monsters broke away.

Guardian sneered. "End turn!"

Cheveyo drew. "I play Monster Reborn! Hidden Spirit Totem-Owl (300/500) in defense mode!" A spectral owl with golden symbols in its feathers appeared on the field. "Now as per the effect of Provocation Champion of Luna attacks Dark Guardian!" Both monsters slammed into each other and then broke away as the owl spirit disappeared. "And the effect of my monster lets me add Polymerization and one Hidden Spirit monster into my hand!" He held up two cards. "End turn!"

A card appeared behind the Guardian. "Now your duel ends! First I activate The Forceful Sentry!" Holographic representations of the two cards in Cheveyo's hands appeared up in the air. "I select Polymerization!" The magic card faded away. "That card goes back into your deck! Now Dark Guardian, attack the monster now!" His monster charged and slammed its axe down against the weapon of the Champion.

Cheveyo discarded the card from his hand and both monsters broke away from each other.

The Guardian of Memories snapped his fingers and his final monster, Nightmare Eye, exploded. "Attack again!" Dark Guardian stopped in mid-withdraw and charged in again, slamming its weapon against the spear of Champion of Luna. "You have no cards left to sacrifice!"

"That's not true." Cheveyo closed his eyes. "I discard Moonlight Caern to save my monster." All around them the stones fell away, leaving the two standing in the damp cavern once more.

Both monsters broke away and the Champion of Luna shrank down into its human form. (2800/2800)

Guardian snickered calmly. "End turn. You have lost the card that gave your monster the power to match mine in battle. Now during the next turn I'll destroy you."

Cheveyo looked down at his deck and frowned. ("There's nothing left for me to do. I tried my best, but I couldn't hold against the wild assault of the Guardian…") He clenched his fist. ("Mother…forgive me…he had me in the perfect lock…all I could do was defend.") His eyes snapped open. ("Wait a second!") He drew. "Champion of Luna, attack his Dark Guardian now! Finish this fight!" The warrior started to run towards the mighty spider-legged monster wildly.

"You can't hope to win. So come and meet your end like a warrior!" The Guardian of Memories started to smirk…until he saw the look in Cheveyo's eyes. "What are you smiling about?"

Cheveyo held up the drawn card. "You removed the one thing keeping your Dark Guardian safe! From my hand I play Shrink! This quickplay magic card cuts the attack of one monster in play in half!" Waves of energy flew from his card and hit Dark Guardian, shrinking it down to the size of a tank. (1900/3500)

"I'll still survive the damage!" The Guardian of Memories began to smile, but faltered as he realized Cheveyo had beaten him to it.

"Champion of Luna special ability number three!" The warrior flexed its muscles, energy flowing through it. "When the attack of a monster on your field is reduced by the effect of card I control, then the drained attack is added to Champion's attack strength until the end of the turn!" (4700/2800) "Attack now! Fianna Deathblow!" The warrior pulled its huge Claymore free and slashed into the shoulder of the tank-sized monster. A wave of force slammed into the Guardian of Memory and dissipated it.

Cheveyo- 2450

Guardian- 0

Cheveyo took a deep breath, and then dropped to his knees. ("I've won…")

* * *

_And so you have won brave warrior. By believing in the strength of your duelist skills and the spirits of your ancestors you have succeeded. For this I would congratulate you. However, now is not the time for congratulations. It is the time for learning your very nature._

_You are one of the Forsaken. A werewolf who is the ancestor of a mighty warrior who slain Father Wolf. With the death of Father Wolf, the patriarch of all Uratha, by the claws of his own children your ancestors have sealed your fate. Repent or live in the blood that is yours to keep…that is your choice._

_I am the Guardian of Memories, and I have kept the history of the Forsaken safe for the longest time. As appointed by the Dark Halo, I am to test all challengers with a Duel. You have succeeded, and your reward will be to know the truth about your mother, your heritage, and your existence._

_Your mother was Chenoa Qua, or 'Dove of Peace' as known by her pack mates. She was a kind woman even after her First Change, though after that she was never the same. In a way she was better off, and in another way she was worse. Better in that her unique gift to sense the feelings of everyone was put to good use, and bad in that her gift was scarred, as was she. One year after she had you her pack had to retrieve her to protect you from death at the hands of enemies of the Uratha. It was a sad time in her life, and she cried nearly every night because she could no longer see you. You were her pride and joy._

_However, darkness arrived that made her sorrow small in comparison. Its name is Adder Man. As you know, there is a realm of spirit beyond this one. From this world emerges the monsters you use, but also emerges spirits of all elements of your reality. Pain, Joy, Water, Curiosity…all of these are spirits. And that is only the tip of the iceberg. Even I am one of these spirits, one of Memory._

_Adder Man was a mighty spirit that originally commanded all of the forests in the place called Denver. It drew its power from every tree, and was so mighty that it could destroy anything in its territory without even having to manifest itself. However, this changed with the arrival of man and civilization. As Adder Man's power diminished, it went into sleep to try and figure out how to defeat the thing that threatened its power source. Unfortunately for it, when it awoke its power was nearly destroyed completely. It had only option left…to invade where spirits are not welcome. In the realm of man it tore open a hole in reality, giving spirits the power to enter the human realm and do as they pleased._

_And so its target was a place called Manitou Springs. It was a peaceful town until the arrival of the Adder Man's 'army'. Now the whole place is a form of hell. Filled with spirits who control humans on a whim…and things do not get easier either._

_This place was the territory of your mother and her pack. They, one night, tried to face the Adder Man directly._

"**_I know that you are here! Come out! I challenge you to a duel for control over Manitou Springs!"_**

_They lost…all of them. Your mother's soul was consumed by the spirit judges of the Shadow Realm. As were the souls of her pack mates. There is nothing left of them, except a place. That place is Manitou Springs. So now you must go there and challenge him. Adder Man cannot be allowed to achieve its goals, or else the rift in space will spread and slowly but surely the chaos of Manitou Springs will cover the earth._

_You are of the Blood Talons. You are Rahu, of the Full Moon. You are the warrior; you are the one who leads the charge, and the last to leave the fight. That is your birthright. Child of the peaceful dove and one who wanders like the wind. You are Cheveyo Qua, but you are more than that._

"_**I am the forest. You cannot defeat the forest, weak child. I am the Adder Man."**_

_**("For my son…I must continue!")**_

_**Adder Man- 12000**_

_**Chenoa- 0**_

_**("I lost…Cheveyo…")**_

"_**Let the judges of the Shadows consume your life. In the name of the game invoked by the Dark Halo, I banish your soul!"**_

_You are Lost as Always. And yet now, you have found your way.

* * *

_

Fong was the first to feel the approach from within the cave. "Something is coming." He wasn't going to get happy yet though. Win or lose, the body of the entrant walked out of the cave.

"Cheveyo…" Conn stood up as well.

Nikolai continued to look outwards, his eyes closed. ("He has succeeded, I can feel it. But now the question is where we go now.")

Jill stood up. Next to her Fire Claw continued to look out disinterestedly at the forest floor.

Cheveyo stumbled forwards numbly, his mussed-up hair hanging in his eyes.

"He lost…didn't he…?" Conn clenched his fist.

Cheveyo stumbled past him, and then past Fong. He kept moving, past Jill and Nikolai. Fire Claw stepped aside and then all five of them watched as he wandered down the path to the trees.

"Did he lose?" Conn looked at Fong.

"No. He won. But what he saw was not what he wanted to see." The old man bowed his head slightly. "But that is our life. It is not one of happiness, lest everyone we love would not be in danger."

* * *

Cheveyo kept stumbling, his shoulders trembling. His right fist was stuck in a constant state of clenching, blood dribbling down to the forest floor. Finally he stopped and slumped against an old tree, sliding down until he now sat against it. ("……..") An image flashed in his head. 

"_**Let the judges of the Shadows consume your life. In the name of the game invoked by the Dark Halo, I banish your soul!"**_

He felt it. The red hot Rage…the fire…and this time he didn't resist. He let it permeate into his very core with a dark snarl. ("……")

* * *

An echoing howl shook the forest, sending birds for miles flying in terror. Then trees started to fall, one by one. 

When the Hidden Spirit Pack ran to the destruction site, they found a naked Cheveyo sobbing on the ground, surrounded by a dozen felled trees.

* * *

_06/29/2025_

_My mother died. All of this time searching, only to learn she is gone. There is no way to bring her back. I have been living a lie. Chenoa Qua is a soul forever lost to the shadows. There is no more hesitation in my soul. With my last breath I swear the Adder Man will fall…_

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost but Found

* * *

_

_-----------------_

_To be continued…_

_Hey there ya blokes, Conn Ronain 'ere! We keep tryin to figure out what's wrong with Cheveyo, but he ain't talkin. And then to top it all off a Ridden shows up. Hey Fong, what're you gettin so mad for? What's so special about this poor Spirit-possessed fool?_

_Next Episode: The will of battle; the mirror into a grandfather's soul_

To falcon demon general: So was it to your liking?

To john: Dark Guardian is an anime card.

To LucienShadowMaster: Wrong on all three accounts actually. Well, partially right on one.

To Adriel: Yes…Luna is a concept much like Memory.

To Seeker of the Soul: I honestly haven't decided yet.

To G.O.T. Nick: I'm glad you like Fong, because he's starring in the next episode.

To Rex: There's nothing wrong with a little Ichigo cameo.


	9. The Willpower to fight

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh or the World of Darkness.

_-------------_

_07/01/2025_

_The Adder Man. An ancient spirit of the forests of Denver…and it killed my mother. I cannot accept this. We will go and we will destroy the Adder Man. And if the others won't go, then I'll do it myself. It rests in my hands. My mother will not have died for nothing._

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost but Found_

_------------------_

Cheveyo looked down at the ground and slowly closed his journal.

Conn looked at the boy and then at the remains of their campfire. "Well, since we don't have a ride anymore I guess we'll have to use our good old four feet."

Nikolai stood up and brushed himself off. "Pack up the necessary gear. We will take turns carrying it until we reach civilization."

_("We don't need civilization. The wild will give us everything we need.")_ Fire Claw sniffed the air and drunk in the strong smells of nature.

"Are you insane? We need certain things to survive that the wild won't provide for us." Jill glared at the wolfess.

_("You are too soft for this life.")_ Fire Claw met the glare with a cold one of her own.

Fong took another sip of his tea. "Regardless, we must get moving. This is no place to stand around."

Cheveyo said nothing, except that he stood up and walked off.

_------------------_

It knew its purpose. ("The Adder Man promised me freedom if I'd deal with those who would oppose him.") It moved silently through the grass, eyes locked ahead. ("I will find what I search for soon. For now though I must keep moving.") Using the edge of his duel disk he slashed through some overhanging growth and kept moving. ("I will find you. Cheveyo Qua, you shall die before you can reveal anything.")

_------------------_

Nikolai shouldered one of the heavy bags, his mighty Crinos muscles barely feeling the weight. "How close?"

"There is a town ten miles from here. It is the closest thing with a phone." Jill put her PDA into her jacket pocket and kept walking.

Cheveyo watched the earth at his feet, barely registering each step.

"So Cheveyo, what's the…" Conn was silenced by a punch to the solar plexus by Fong.

"He will reveal in his own time." The old man turned around and continued to walk.

Coughing for a few seconds, Conn shook off the pain and then glared at Fong's back. "One of these days I'm going to knock you on your ass!"

"That day that happens is the day that I die, because only when would you be a match for me in battle." Fong kept moving, his arms behind his back.

Nikolai grunted a quiet order for silence. His ears perked up and he growled low in his throat. "Something approaches."

The bushes ahead of them started to push aside…and then were blown aside as a wave of something sharp and shiny hurtled towards the six.

"Scatter!" Nikolai dropped the pack instantly and dove aside, as did everyone else. The wave kept going, tearing through the greens like knives. Then another wave came, this one aimed at Cheveyo.

The boy, still surprised, could only watch in horror as the storm of sharp glitter hurtled towards him.

Fong leapt in the way of the wave and threw a coarse camping blanket in front of him. Though the sharp items should have been able to penetrate the cloth with no problem, it stopped them as readily as bulletproof glass stops a pistol blast. Ruffling the blanket, the stopped articles clattered to the ground. Lowering the blanket Fong looked down at them and his eyes narrowed. They were shards of glass.

"Well isn't this a surprise, eh old man?" A young Japanese man wearing a black jacket and pants stepped into view, a duel disk on his arm. "I came here for the boy, and I found you."

Fong threw the blanket aside. "Someone give me a duel disk." Without looking he caught the one Nikolai threw him. Sliding the device onto his arm he removed a deck from his pocket and inserted it into the slot. "I will challenge you Kanaye." Humming to life, the duel disk began to thrum and the life point counter went up to 4000.

The young man did the same. "Duel."

Fong- 4000

Kanaye- 4000

Fong drew six cards off of his disk. "I never thought that I would see you again. It is a pleasant surprise." Taking a card from his hand he placed it onto his disk. "I set a monster face-down. End turn."

Kanaye drew. "First I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." He slid two cards off of his disk and placed one down. "Now I set one monster face-down. End turn."

Fong drew. "I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) in attack mode." A robot made of yellow magnets appeared on the field. "Attack the set monster now." It fired a beam of glittering energy that hit the set monster and then was deflected back at it, blowing it apart.

Kanaye's monster was a full-body mirror with legs. "Dark Reflection (800/1800) destroys any monsters that have less attack than it does defense."

Fong- 3900

Kanaye- 4000

Fong looked down at his hand and then up at his opponent. "End turn."

Kanaye drew. "Now it's time for a little fun, old man. I play Mirror Dimension!" There was a flash of light as their monsters switched places. "This card can only activate if we both have the same number of monsters in play. Those monsters switch modes and switch controllers." His revealed monster was a Sangan. (1000/600) "I see. You intended to search your deck for a monster? Well let me give your monster a taste of doom!" The Sangan slashed through the Dark Reflection. As the mirror monster exploded pieces of it stabbed deeply into Fong's leg.

Fong- 3700

Kanaye- 4000

Kanaye slid two cards into his disk. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

Fong dropped to his not bloodied knee and gritted his teeth in pain. He drew from his current position, refusing to let himself feel pain. "I activate the power of Earth Restoration! This magic card revives an earth type monster from my graveyard to the field!" Beta the Magnet Warrior reappeared. (1700/1600) "Now I summon Rock Eater!" (2400/1400) A stone statue appeared on his field and flexed its 'muscles'. "This monster requires me to sacrifice a rock type monster!" Beta shattered.

"And now I remove Beta from my graveyard to special summon The Rock Spirit!" (1700/1000) A stone warrior appeared on the field and flexed its arms. "Attack now!" The Rock Spirit punched Sangan right in the face and blew it apart. "And when my Sangan is sent to the graveyard I select one monster from my deck with an attack of 1500 or less and add it to my hand!" He removed a card from his deck and added it to his hand. "During this turn Rock Eater cannot attack. End turn!"

Fong- 3700

Kanaye- 3300

Kanaye drew. "I summon Glass Idol (1200/1700) in defense mode." A glass statue appeared on the field. "Now I set one card face-down. End turn."

Fong drew. "I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700) in attack mode!" A grey magnet robot appeared on the field. "You know your job! Go Rock Eater!" The statue opened its mouth and charged towards the glass idol.

"Reveal Shatter!" One of Kanaye's face-down cards flipped up and the Idol shattered into pieces. "This card lets me sacrifice a monster with Glass in its title to special summon as many Glass Tokens (0/0) as I can!" Five blocks of glass appeared on the field, and one was shattered as Rock Eater's mouth clamped around it.

Fong pointed at two more of the glass blocks. "Alpha and Rock Spirit, attack!" Both monsters slammed into the blocks and blew them away. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Reveal Mystical Space Typhoon!" One of Kanaye's face-down cards flipped up and a blast of wind shattered Fong's set card. Then he drew. "You want to be tricky? That won't work, old man. I'm far too smart for you." He placed a card down. "I summon Lucky Illusion (300/200) in defense mode." A glowing ball of light appeared on the field. "When this monster switches modes the owner's opponent may draw one card." He held up another card. "And now I activate Mirror Dimension!" The field flashed and when it cleared the Glass Tokens and Lucky Illusion were on Fong's field. "And because Lucky Illusion switched modes, I draw one card." He drew. "Luckily for you your monsters were all in attack mode, or else they would run you down right now. End turn."

Fong drew. ("If I switch Lucky Illusion's mode then he'll draw a card. But I have no choice.") "I switch Lucky Illusion and the rest of my monsters into defense mode!" All of his three monsters shifted modes.

"Thanks for the boost." Kanaye drew.

Fong placed a card face-down on his disk. "I set one monster face-down and one card face-down. End turn."

"He's been forced onto the defensive!" Nikolai grimaced.

Kanaye drew. "Prepare to feel the pain of glass piercing through your every pore!" All of Fong's old monsters switched into attack mode. "Also, I'll summon Glass Mage (1550/1400) in attack mode." A spellcaster in glass robes appeared on the field. "Now everyone, attack his defenders!" Rock Eater smashed through the set monster, and then Alpha, Glass Mage, and Rock Spirit took out the remaining three monsters in one group attack. "Finally, I end my turn."

Fong drew. ("You are mighty…but far from unstoppable.") "From my hand I play Monster Reborn to return Giant Soldier of Stone from my graveyard to the field!" (1300/2000) A giant statue monster appeared on the field. "Also, I play the magic card Book of Shift! This magic card switches the attack of the strongest monsters on our field!" (2400/2000) (1300/1400) "Giant Soldier of Stone, attack now!" The Statue drew one of its swords and slashed Rock Eater apart. "Also, I set one card face-down. End turn!"

Fong- 3700

Kanaye- 2200

Kanaye drew. "Now I play the magic card Half Split. This card can only be activated if I have Glass Mage in play. Its effect allows me to cut the attack of one monster on your field in half and then I special summon a token of that monster to the field at the same attack level!" Giant Soldier of Stone shimmered and now Fong had two on his field. (1200/2000) (1200/2000) "And now I attack with Rock Spirit!" The statue warrior launched forwards and punched through one of the Giant Soldiers.

Fong- 3200

Kanaye- 2200

Fong dropped to one knee and clutched at his now other bleeding leg.

"Glass Mage, destroy the other one!" The mage chanted and the Stone Soldier exploded.

Fong- 2850

Kanaye- 2200

"And now Alpha the Magnet Warrior goes for the direct attack!" The magnet started to charge…

"Reveal Stone Guardians!" One of Fong's face-down cards flipped up. "This card lets me send three rock type monsters from my deck to the graveyard so that I can special summon three Stone Guardian Tokens (1000/1000) to the field!" A trio of stone statues of warriors appeared on the field in crouching positions. One of them was cut apart.

Kanaye pointed at Alpha. "I sacrifice that useless monster to summon Glass Defender (1200/3000) in defense mode!" A glass statue of a man holding a shield appeared on the field. "End turn!"

Fong clutched at his bleeding chest…and drew. "I activate…Secret of the Master. This magic card lets me sacrifice a monster in play." One of his two remaining Stone Guardians exploded into dust. "So that I can draw one card and then special summon Monk Fighter (1300/1300) from my deck to the field!" A blond-haired man appeared in play. "And then I send him to the graveyard to summon Master Monk!" (1900/1700) The young man disappeared, replaced by an older and much more powerful version of itself. "Now I attack Glass Mage!" The martial artist punched through the spellcaster.

Fong- 2850

Kanaye- 1850

"The effect of Rock Spirit raises its attack power by 300 during your battle phase!" Kanaye sneered. "So I'm safe!" (2000/1000)

"Reveal True Power!" (1700/1000) "This trap card forces the attack of all monsters in play to return to its original total for this turn! And because of its effect, Master Monk can attack twice!" The martial artist punched through the Rock Spirit. "End turn!"

Fong- 2850

Kanaye- 1650

Kanaye drew. "You're a dead man. I set a monster face-down." A card appeared alongside his Glass Defender. "Then I activate the effect of these two cards in my hand. They are called Glass Summoner. (1500/1200) When I discard one I can sacrifice a monster to add one Sacrifice Counter to myself!" Both of his monsters exploded and two lights hovered around his head. "These counters let me remove them to special summon one level four or lower monster from my deck to the field!" The first monster was a creature covered in glass, and the other a robot covered in mirrors. "I summon Reflect Beast (1900/1500) and Reflect Bounder (1700/1000) to the field! Reflect Bounder, attack his Guardian!" The machine released a beam of light that shattered the statue.

Fong's eyes widened slightly.

"Reflect Beast, kill his Monk!" Both of the monsters fought for a moment and then exploded. "Now I play the magic card Energy Burn! This card will deal you life point damage equal to the attack of my destroyed Beast!" A huge shard of glass flew across the field and pierced right through Fong's stomach. "Now you die!"

Fong- 950

Kanaye- 1650

Fong gritted his teeth and drew a card. "By the effect of your card I can draw once."

Kanaye snickered. "Your son's body…it is such a beautiful thing. The damage I can do to humans is like a fine wine…"

Fong looked down at the ground. ("My grandson…my granddaughter….my son…all of them! All of them!") He stumbled to his feet. "I will destroy you and let my son's body rest in peace! Draw!" He looked at the drawn card. "It is over, one way or another! For all of your work, you've only been helping me in this fight!" His graveyard slot started to glow. "For within the graveyard rests a plethora of power…that will now be tapped! Come out now, Megarock Dragon!" (5600/5600) A huge dragon exploded out of the earth and roared loudly.

"5600?" Kanaye stared at the monster. "How did you summon that monster without tribute?"

"Megarock Dragon's special ability lets me special summon it from my hand by removing Rock type monsters from my graveyard! For every Rock type removed its attack power rises by 700 points!" Megarock Dragon roared loudly and lowered its head to look at Reflect Bounder. "Megarock Dragon, attack the monster now!"

"You fool!" Kanaye paled. "Don't you understand the effect of Reflect Bounder? You'll kill both of us!"

"Lava Explosion!" The Megarock Dragon released a blast of fire that hurtled towards the machine. "From my hand, I activate the quickplay magic card Stone Upset! This card will only activate when I have a Rock type monster in play! One face-down activates for me and all life point damage to me for this turn is negated!" Kanaye's face-down card flipped up. "Just as I thought…Dimensional Tunnel Mirror Gate. This trap card switches the positions of our monsters and the battle continues!" Suddenly Reflect Bounder was on his field, right before it was hit by the blast of fire. While it exploded, a ball of light shot past the dragon and hit Kanaye's body, blowing it away and leaving nothing behind.

Fong- 950

Kanaye- 0

Fong dropped to his knees…and looked at the ground. ("My son…")

_---------------_

_Fong Suzuki, wearing a normal white gi, approached the home of his son, Kanaye. ("It's time for the birthday of my grandson…") Knocking on the door, he waited patiently for someone to open it. "Hello? Kanaye?"_

_A scream echoed from inside._

_Fong slammed his palm against the door and it blew off the hinges. "Kanaye? Ayuki? What's wrong?" The first thing he saw in the living room of the house he had watched his grandchildren grow up in caused him to vomit. It was so gory of a scene, that he couldn't even wrap his mind around it properly. ("Who could…who would do this?")_

"_Isn't it lovely?" Kanaye walked into the room, holding a blood teddy bear in one hand. "It's a work of art…"_

"_Who are you?" Fong slowly stood up. "You're not my son…who are you?"_

"_Me?" Kanaye smiled calmly, revealing clear glass teeth. "I'm just a spirit taking your son's body for a ride? Now then, shall we begin old man?"_

_Fong trembled in rage, his calm that he had achieved through his martial arts training breaking down instantly. "I will not forgive you! They were children…they were children!"_

"_That they were…" Kanaye dropped the bloody teddy bear. "Not anymore though…"_

_Fong felt his blood rising…it wouldn't stop… "I'll tear you…limb from limb…"_

_A few minutes later a blood-curdling howl echoed through the night's sky, followed by a crash of glass._

_---------_

Fong stood up slowly, his face calm again. "Let's go…"

"Who was…" Cheveyo was cut off by a silent glare from Nikolai. "But…I just wanted to…" Going silent, he followed his pack without another word.

_----------_

_06/30/2025_

_I'm still not completely sure what all that was about. It's the first I've ever seen Fong express a strong emotion though…I thought I heard him crying tonight, but when I asked him if he was okay he simply smiled and told me that everything that fine._

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost but Found _

------------

To Gryphinwyrm: I'm trying to keep you on your seat.

To Raine: Alder man is the new bad guy. He's the one that Cheveyo is going to have to take down at one point or another.

To Adriel: What's the surprise with the word Rahu?

To Grisham: It means that Cheveyo is related in blood to the Werewolves who killed Father Wolf in the past.

To G.O.T. Nick: Was it cool?

To LucienShadowMaster: What plotting? Alder Man is an unknown at the moment. All Cheveyo has is a name for right now.

To Luna's Meow: No, except for the concept of the moon.

To john: He might show up again.

To Darkstar: No, this was a long duel. But it was meant to show that Cheveyo has a lot to learn.

To falcon demon general: It has been upgraded.

To Rex: Also, Alder Man is a very powerful spirit. For all you know the fact that his life points are so high is because it reflects that spiritual power.


	10. Town of the Damned

Disclaimer: No I don't own Yugioh or the World of Darkness.

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_07/02/2025_

_Werewolves actually exist, as do evil spirits that take over the bodies of men and turn them into monsters. That alone is pretty scary. What else is out there that is not legend but reality? I kind of wonder whether I should ask Fong or Conn whether Santa Claus exists, because if they told me that he did I wouldn't have any reason to doubt them at this point._

_As we start to pack up from our break and head towards the town Jill mentioned, I think she called it Juniper or something, I wonder what else there is out there that's supernatural._

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The leaves and twigs crunched under their boots, sending bits of bark and wood flying everywhere as the six of them trooped through the pitch darkness of the woods.

"I can't feel my legs…" Cheveyo nearly fell over, stopped only because Nikolai grabbed the back of his shirt's collar and forced him to stay standing. "Just let me fall…"

"I can't believe that you're a Werewolf and yet you're standing here whining about something as simple as walking." Even in the pitch darkness the Russian's silver hair shimmered brightly, seeming to project a light of its own.

"Take it easy on the kid," Conn strolled by and dodged a tree branch that swung back the opposite way it had been pushed, hitting Cheveyo in the face roughly.

"_If he is weak he will die, that is all."_ Fire Claw padded by, her body language easily readable to everyone but the subject of the conversation.

"You're not particularly compassionate, are you dear?" Fong walked past the stumbling Cheveyo with his arms folded behind his back in a clearly passive martial artist stance. "However you are right, if the boy is too weak to even walk on his own two feet then he will die."

"You are all quite chatty this evening." Jill walked by, her appearance hard to believe considering where they were. Even now her hair was perfectly styled, and her clothing was completely devoid of dirt.

"How are you so clean anyway?" Cheveyo stepped past a tree and tripped on one of its jutting roots, flying face-first into the mud just beyond it.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jill casually used the boy's body as a stepping stone to clear the puddle of wet dirt without incident. "It's because I am a professional."

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The only things he could hear were the beating of his heart and the stifled sucking noise of him breathing through his hand in an attempt to lower the amount of noise he made. ("Have to get away…have to wait for an opportunity…")

Cold steel, warmed by his body, was his only companion in this. A shotgun, cradled in one's lap, would normally make anyone feel rather secure and safe. In this situation though, it was only a painful reminder that the things which were out there were not human.

They had laughed. He had shot one of them and it had laughed like he had just delivered one of the greatest punch-lines in the world through the buckshot that had peppered its body. It hadn't even seemed to have been touched by the blast either.

What made it all the worse though was the fact that they were waiting outside for him. There wasn't anyone left alive. Everyone else was already dead, murdered…

-----------------------------

Cheveyo let out a loud cough for air as he emerged from the line of trees to find himself standing on a road. "Can it be…" He turned his head to look down the stretch of dirt, and sure enough, in the distance, there was sanctuary. "It's Juniper. Thank goodness, we finally got here!"

"Stop being so happy about it, before you draw attention to yourself." Conn walked past him and grinned. "I can't wait to get myself a pint or two."

"We are almost out of tea, which is unacceptable." Fong patted the boy on the back. "Come along, Cheveyo, let's go food shopping."

"There had better be a phone or there will be hell to pay." Jill, sounding angry now that she realized how long she had been disconnected from the modern world, stomped past with no regard for her cleanliness now that the objective was in sight.

Nikolai stopped as his eyes fell upon the town, a series of buildings that barely constituted as anything more than a couple of random streets. ("There aren't any lights on in most of the buildings.") Normally that would make sense, considering how late in the evening it was…but something felt very, very off about this situation. Regardless though, he followed the other four without delay.

"_You're all wasting your time."_ Fire Claw followed behind them, but she didn't seem very happy. _"There are more than enough things to live off of in the wild."_

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"I…feel so beautiful…" A pair of dry, dusty hands reached out, stroking down the face of the mirror in front of it. The room was completely dark though, void of any light except for a few scant rays coming in from the single window. Carrying the small hand mirror with it, the owner of the hands approached the window to better see themselves with the use of the light of the crescent moon.

---------------------------

"This sucks," Cheveyo dropped into a cross-legged sitting position on the grassy area surrounding a statue of some unknown mayor or town hero. "This is supposed to be Main Street, right?"

"Yup, supposed to be." Conn frowned and rubbed the back of his head. According to the fact that every single building looked like it was closed due to need of repairs though told him otherwise. "Maybe they abandoned ship for some reason?"

"What reason would make people evacuate an entire town though?" Cheveyo glanced up at the second stories of the buildings and stopped the movement of his head when he saw someone projected faintly against a window. "Hey look, there's somebody." Placing his finger and thumb to his mouth, he whistled as loud as he could to try and grab the attention of the person through the thickness of the window. "Excuse me!"

Conn glanced back the way they had come and frowned at the fact that the rest of the pack weren't to be seen. ("I'm getting my 'missing something important' vibe.")

The barely visible form placed a palm against the window…and then turned away, walking out of sight.

"Huh, she must not have heard me…" Cheveyo sighed in disappointment and stood up, brushing blades of grass from his pant legs. "Conn…" He turned to look at one of the only members of the pack he actually cared to trust, and was surprised to see that Conn was gone too. "Well that's just…" A chill ran down his spine and he figured it out, the ultimate truth of this situation that would normally fly right over the head of someone less versed in its nature.

--------------------------------

Fong walked along the aisles of the convenience store, running his fingers along the different boxes of tea that were all lined up as if offering themselves to him. "What do I feel like having? If only they had some Earl Grey, then it would be a real party."

The fact that he had more or less broken into the store didn't mean much to him. His tea was more important than the fact that a place of convenience didn't want to live up to its name. Even though he was wandering about in nearly pure darkness as he did this, it didn't seem to bother his vision.

"Y'all…" A thud noise came from behind and under the counter, barely audible.

Fong turned his head to look at the counter momentarily, before shrugging and returning to his tea-browsing. Whatever some weirdo behind a counter wanted to do meant little to him as long as it didn't interfere with what he was after.

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Nikolai rapped his knuckle on the door of the motel lobby. ("It isn't locked, the lights are off, and there isn't a closed sign up.") Leaning to the side a little, he peeked in through the glass part of the door. "Ah, there's someone. Excuse me, sir?"

The shadowed form that had just wandered into the lobby, and Nikolai had seen, walked towards the door slowly, barely visible because of the lack of light.

------------------------------------

"Oh man, its sanctuary!" Conn waltzed into the shadow-filled bar with a crash as he kicked the unlocked door open. "Barkeep, get your best scotch ready! Daddy needs him a drink!"

Landing on a nearby stool with a loud crash, he kicked his feet up onto the top of the bar and glanced around at the fact that the whole place was empty. "Well ain't this just a disappointment? Oh well, I'll help myself then!"

While he leapt behind the bar and started raiding the many bottles there he didn't notice the shadowed forms stirring from the tables just out of sight as they began to approach his back.

-----------------------------------------

Jill pushed down on the plunger for the pay phone once more, and once more nothing happened. There was no ring-tone. "This is extremely frustrating! How can a town not have a functioning pay-phone!? Do they just light smoke signals when they need to talk to each other!?" Kicking the base of the phone's stand, she angrily glanced around to see if there was a resident she could yell at. All there was though was an unmoving parked pick-up facing her from across the street. "Just great…"

From the driver's side of the car, a pair of hands slowly reached for the ignition…

--------------------------------------------

Fire Claw huffed and continued her silent vigil from the brush just outside of town. ("Humans and their need to build. Such annoying creatures…") She flicked her tail back and forth indignantly and hoped that the rest of the pack would return soon. Even the immature Cheveyo would at least be someone to talk to rather than this boring waiting game she was playing.

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"_It seems we have visitors…"_ It glided across the floor without a sound, an impossibly tall hooded thing. It was like a man, but there was something distinctly wrong with it. _"That man may warn them away, and that just won't do…"_ It passed by a road-sign marked "Juniper-5 miles." _"It's time to signal the Damned."_

From underneath its impossibly long robes emerged wisps of grey smoke that rose up and formed into a series of faces. Those faces circled around their creator for a moment before dissipating in the air.

-----------------------------------------

Cheveyo spun in another circle, leaving drag-marks in the dirt as he nearly panicked again. ("A group of people enter an abandoned town, split up, and then get killed off one by one! Damn it, why didn't I see this coming!") He vowed never to call any protagonist in a horror movie stupid for not seeing something coming ever again.

Now he just had to decide who to go to first. Screaming at the top of his lungs to get the others' attention crossed his mind, but he quickly decided against that. Nothing would be dumber than to let the serial killer or monster know you had figured out what was wrong. ("Just play dumb, casually walk over to the convenience store and get Fong. He'll know what to do…he has to…") Turning towards where he remembered the store to be, the boy started to casually walk in that direction.

Just as he walked a few steps towards his goal though, his blood ran cold as a sudden sound filled the air. It was clear, unmistakable in any way, shape, or form. And he slowly turned to look for the source, but there wasn't any place it could have been.

Juniper didn't have a bell tower after all, so where was that loud chiming coming from?

-----------------------------

Arms loaded with plenty of boxes of tea, Fong strolled towards the door of the store. Just as he passed by the counter he stopped upon hearing a most peculiar sound. "A bell? How very haunting…" Shrugging it off, he continued on his way out, not noticing the shotgun being leveled at his back from behind the shadow-covered cash register.

-----------------------------

Conn continued to sing, badly, as he gulped down the contents of another bottle. This being his sixth, he wasn't even sure what kind of liquor this one was. "Maybe…a fine whiskey, I'm thinkin'." Hiccuping, he broke out into a pointless burst of laughter and grabbed a new bottle, popping the cork off and swigging down his seventh drink despite the fact that he wasn't done with his sixth yet.

Meanwhile the trio of shadowed forms stood across the bar from him, and one slowly reached forward towards his back.

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"ARGH!" Jill proceeded to tear the receiver off the useless lump of plastic and metal, followed by which she started beating the pay-phone with a part of itself in some kind of symbolic act of mutilation.

Her pointless violence ended prematurely as the pick-up across the street sputtered to life, its headlights releasing a momentary blinding flash that illuminated her. Between her momentary disorientation and her reaction to the sudden flash, she didn't even realize that the truck was moving forward until it was mere inches from turning her into a paste against the wall of the building behind her.

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Nikolai caught a glimpse of the man's shirt through the window, seeing a name-tag. "Good, an employee. Hurry and open up, I need to speak with you about procuring a vehicle."

The man stopped a foot from the window, remaining just within the shadows and out of the reach of the pale moonlight coming in. "Be right with you…"

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Cheveyo twirled around wildly, trying to look in every direction at once now. Even though he was in the middle of a town square that was lit by the light of the moon, he knew that didn't instantly make him immune to the possibility of being ambushed. ("Scary sourceless bell plus spooky town equals signal! All isn't lost though. As long as no random guy shows up trying to warn me off then maybe it's just my imagination!")

The sound of ragged and terrified breath, along with heavy footfalls coming from a nearby area in between a pair of buildings, suddenly reached his ears. A man wearing a cowboy hat and dressed in a dirty jacket and jeans ran into the town square at full speed, the shotgun in his hands seemingly forgotten by the way it was just dangling in his grasp. "You need to get out of here now! They're coming!"

"La-la-la-la!" Cheveyo had his hands over his ears, having done so the moment he had caught sight of the man. "I'm not listening, this isn't happening! We aren't going to die bloody deaths; you're just the town nut! La-la-la-la!"

A loud crash reached his hearing even through his attempts to block out all sound. It was the noise of a vehicle crashing into the side of a building.

-------------------------------

"Hmmm?" Fong tilted his head in the direction of the echoing crash, and then was hurtling forward as a load of buckshot was emptied into his back at near point-blank range, sending his horded boxes of tea flying everywhere as he hit face-first to the ground. The smoke coming from the holes in his back mixed well with the dust kicked up by his landing, creating a semi-smoke screen that stole his body from sight.

---------------------------------

Conn was suddenly yanked over the bar and brought slamming to the ground on his back, the bottles in his hand emptying their contents across his face and chest in the momentary tussle. Before he could figure out what was going on through his drunken stupor, all breath left his throat as a sledgehammer blow crushed his ribcage inwards.

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Nikolai glanced in the direction of the crashing noise that had come from nearby. "What was that?" Suddenly his body jerked slightly and, wide-eyed, he turned his attention back to the door that led to the lobby. "What…the…" His head lolled slightly, giving him a view of the machete blade sticking right through the wooden frame of the door and piercing his stomach.

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"You need to…" The man's warning, yelled for a fifth time, ended suddenly.

Eyes squeezed shut, Cheveyo didn't want to look. ("He's going to be dead…he's going to be dead.") Whether it was morbid curiosity or just common sense, he lifted his head up and opened his eyes.

The man was staring across the street, seeming to look past and through Cheveyo. Lying at his feet was the shotgun, forgotten in both the shock and terror on his face. "Lila..."

"Lila?" The boy turned around, and a lump developed in his throat at what he saw.

"So…beautiful…" She stumbled out of the front door of her house slowly, the hand mirror she was holding seeming to be her focus of attention. Her pink house dress was torn, holes in it where she had fallen or perhaps caused by hungry moths. What once might have been long and flowing blond hair was now a wiry gray mess, barely holding to the head that seemed to have its skin pulled far too tightly, lacking heavily in the department of muscle or flesh. Atrophied arms slowly lowered to their owner's sides, and the slightly shrunken feet barely staying in their worn heels trudged another step towards the two.

Bile rose in Cheveyo's throat, and he silently was thankful that all he had eaten was trail mix these last few hours. Because had he been full or even sated in his hunger, he would have wound up losing it right there. This was different than before, when he had felt the oil on water feeling of the perversions. No, this kind of terror was something beyond just mere instinctual warning. It was the basest human terror when faced with something a mind cannot fully understand.

"I have to be…beautiful…for Jon…" She stumbled forward again, head swinging slightly before bringing a pair of eyes that were far too fresh for the near skeleton-like head they sat inside up to bear on the boy and man. "I have…to…" Already the distance between them was just a mere fifteen feet now, and it was rapidly getting shorter.

Cheveyo felt like he was developing a case of vertigo now, as if the world was stretching infinitely in the space around them, making the approach of this thing all the more quicker. His breathing grew faster, but he couldn't move. That terror still froze him to his core. So many questions ran through his head, not the least of all being a near insane plea for her to stop.

And suddenly reality returned, the blam of a shotgun from directly behind bringing him back to rational thought just as the mummy-human, the skeleton with skin, was hit by a metaphorical wall of buckshot, seemingly unaffected. "They ain't human, kid. Not anymore…they're monsters…" When he didn't respond a strangely strong hand clamped onto his shoulder and shook him roughly. "Kid, you listening to me!? Get the hell out of here!"

"Beautiful…" A sickly popping noise came from the thing's mouth, and suddenly its lower jaw stretched a distance impossible for an ordinary human as an insane, highly amused cackling erupted from a throat that shouldn't have been able to sustain sound.

Another shotgun blast went off to Cheveyo's side, but he didn't react. His entire body was trembling uncontrollably now. There were no thoughts, merely fear of the cackling monster in a cheap human disguise that was steadily getting closer and closer to him.

"Run already! Don't just stand there!" Cracking the breech of his firearm, the man removed the used shells and slid in two fresh ones before clicking it closed. "Man, you're really…" The man heard another series of cackling fill the air, coming from nearby. "Here they come…we gotta run now!" His hand shot out and grabbed Cheveyo's, starting to pull the boy along…

---------------------------

_07/02/2025_

_My life has become a horror movie. Monsters are suddenly appearing everywhere, as if beforehand they had been just out of my field of vision. This is the secret underworld of humanity? Ghosts, ghouls, werewolves, perversions against nature…_

_Yet there is one single silver lining that makes it survivable, that sets me apart from the ordinary victim you'd see in any other horror movie. _

----------------------

"Monsters?" Cheveyo whispered coldly, his fear suddenly boiling away as he felt it. His control was slipping, and that familiar red tinge was tinting his vision. "I'll show you monsters."

"What are you talking about?" The man blinked and rubbed his eyes a couple of times. He must have been imagining things, but it seemed like the kid was taller than he had been a moment ago.

Muscles bulging underneath the sleeves of his borrowed shirt, Cheveyo tensed as the thing drew nearer. The only thought in his head was a fervent plea not to harm the living thing behind him. Other than that the beast within him was allowed to do as it pleased.

----------------------------

From inside the pick-up the two things driving turned to each other, their pallid and dry faces contorted into expressions of extreme laughter, that bone-chilling cackling emitting from their stretched mouths horribly loud.

Then their laughter ended as an angered roar came from the hole in the building in front of them. A pair of large furred arms erupted into the range of their bent headlights, grabbed the front of the pick-up, and hefted the whole thing up and through the rest of the building. The explosion that followed moments later lit up the night sky around Juniper.

-----------------------------

"Ya'll…shoulda paid…" The creature jerkily pushed up the lip of its cap with the barrel of its shotgun, its grizzled features twisted by the lack of muscle in its face. Whatever semblance of humanity it had shown suddenly disappeared as its jaw stretched wide and it began that unholy cackling.

"I don't pay for tea, it's against the basic principles I hold." Fong casually stood up and brushed himself off, the holes in his back completely gone. The only indication they had ever been there were the tears in his clothing. Without even turning to look at the thing he knew it was getting ready to fire at him. "Don't bother, you're already dead." His right hand clenched into a fist.

-------------------------------

The three dirtily-dressed 'men' standing over the unmoving Conn let out a trio of cackles, starting to stumble back to their poker table.

"That wasn't very nice." The man, his chest completely healed already, sat up slowly and grabbed the leg of a nearby barstool. "When ya start a fookin bar fight proper etiquette is that you save the sledgehammers until at least ten minutes into it."

One of the three cracked his jaw wide to start cackling, but all that did was actually make it seem possible for the bar-stool that hit in the face to shove a wooden leg down its throat.

"Shaddup a second, would ya?" Standing up, the man picked up one of the two bottles he had spilled and swirled the remaining contents around at the bottom of it before swigging it down and breaking the glass container over the bar-top, giving him an edged weapon. "Now let's get scrappin'."

---------------------------------

The motel clerk slowly lifted up the bloodied machete in front of his lively eyes and let out a cackle of delight before he started licking it clean. "We always…try our hardest…to serve our customers."

"That hurt momentarily." Nikolai's fist shot through the glass window, grabbing the thing by the shirt and brought its head outside in the most violent way possible, leaving a hole in the foot-thick wood and stone wall next to the door.

"However hurt and dead are two entirely different things." Glancing dryly at the crushed and dusty skull sticking out of the wall like some kind of strange ornament, he huffed and stomped off while the red and orange of an explosion lit up the sky.

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_I am one of those monsters._

_Cheveyo Qua_

_Lost but found_


End file.
